DIVERSICROP
As a COST Action, our goal is to support greater diversity in the crops European farmers grow to address climate change and facilitate more sustainable healthy diets.
Diversity is good for nature and for our well-being. Agriculture is dominated by few crop species, and local specialisation further depletes diversity at national and local levels. Our target crops: rye, peas and chickpeas have a long history of cultivation dating back to Neolithic times; however, in some European regions they still are underutilised due to several complex reasons. By identifying and sharing a harmonised dataset across countries, DIVERSICROP will consolidate knowledge relating to their socioeconomic, socio-political and geographical challenges and opportunities. DIVERSICROP will learn from the deep history of these crops in Europe as well as current farming, nutrition and policy data to understand their underutilisation and inform the future.
Mission
DIVERSICROP provides an evidence basis to strengthen the Farm to Fork and the Biodiversity strategies under the European Green Deal to contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- The challenges addressed by DIVERSICROP are:
- to enable future engagement with the target underutilised crops rye, peas and chickpeas;
- to improve biodiversity and agricultural resilience in the face of climate change; and
- to improve sustainable food production.
- DIVERSICROP will tackle these challenges by:
- engaging with archaeological and historical data to develop an understanding of the cultural and socio-political challenges and opportunities;
- identifying and harmonising data on crop science, nutrition and policy to foster interdisciplinary knowledge-exchange; and
- by providing a model for organising interdisciplinary research, in this case anchored around specific crops and climatic regions.