First SolACE Stakeholder Event and kick-off meeting in Montpellier

At the meeting, which took place at the research unit Eco&Sols at INRA Montpellier in the South of France, all work packages were discussed.

First SolACE Stakeholder Event

The meeting included the First SolACE Stakeholder Event. The aim of the event was to exchange views with stakeholders, farmers, farm advisors, breeders, agri-business actors across the entire production chain, beyond those involved as SolACE partners, to identify the most relevant questions and strategies, the most promising traits/genotypes, the most promising management options, and their combinations.

The event began with an introduction to the project by project coordinator Philippe Hinsinger of Eco&Sols at INRA Montpellier and a response by Alice Midmer of LEAF, commenting on the project from a stakeholder perspective.

Helena Gomez-Macpherson of the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture  El IAS-CSIC (www.ias.csic.es/en) in Cordoba, Spain, shared her experience with the EIP Agri Focus Group on Water and Agriculture, which she led.

Then the stakeholders and project partners discussed key questions of the project in several working groups:

• Theme 1: What potential combinations of water and nutrient stress are your biggest concern (e.g., prolonged drought, extreme events)?
• Theme 2: Which plant traits and characteristics help to improve the efficiency of water and nutrient use?
• Theme 3: Which management tools do you currently use or are aware of to improve the efficiency of water and nutrient use on-farm?
• Theme 4: What are the breeding strategies helping to respond to shortages in water and nutrients?
• Theme 5: How can farmers and researchers collaborate to design and test new breeding and management strategies that can be applied across Europe? And where do we need to apply site-specific solutions?

Currently, the proceedings of the event are compiled and will be shared on this website.

More information

Contact

Philippe Hinsinger, project coordinator

Weblinks

• EC.Europa.EU/EIP: Focus group Water & agriculture
• ZENODO.org: Philippe Hinsinger:Solutions for improving Agroecosystem and Crop Efficiency for water and nutrient use