Rare Arable Crops

Nacktgerste
Photo: Agroscope, Andreas Kägi

Oats, hull-less barley, triticale, buckwheat, faba beans and lupin have one thing in common: they are arable crops with numerous positive features in terms of cultivation and nutrition. Despite this, they are grown far less often than potatoes and wheat. Funded with a grant of 6 million euros, the Horizon 2020-Projekt CROPDIVA aims to change that. Agroscope is one of 27 partner institutions on board.

CROPDIVA stands for Climate Resilient Orphan croPs for increased DIVersity in Agriculture. Agroscope will receive around 727,000 euros of its 6 million euros funding. The project is coordinated by the University of Ghent in Belgium. Susanne Vogelgsang from Agroscope is the leader of the work package ‘Diversified Cropping Systems’ and six further Agroscope researchers are involved in a transdisciplinary manner. In this work package, 11 partner institutions from research and practice work together with Agroscope on issues such as diseases, pests, yields and the processing of oats or hull-less barley in mixed cultivation together with legumes. The advantages: firstly, a diversified crop rotation like this leads to fewer problems with plant diseases and pests; secondly, it improves the ecosystem services of the cultivation system; and thirdly, it allows the development of new food and feed products, helping to diversify the income of farmers.

Last modification 15.03.2021

Top of page