Legumes: Terres Inovia takes part in the European BELIS project
Legumes: Terres Inovia takes part in the European BELIS project
This five-year Europe-wide project aims to improve the selection of legumes in the European Union in order to increase genetic progress.
How can legumes be made more competitive? Research into genetic progress by creating varieties adapted to different soil and climate conditions is one of the main ways of boosting these crops and increasing their acreage.
This is the aim of the BELIS (Breeding European Legumes for Increased Sustainability) project, which hopes to make the legume breeding sector more competitive in Europe and provide profitable genetic varieties that are adapted to European farmers looking for better legume seeds.
A consortium of partners from 18 European countries
The project, which started on 1 October 2023, brings together a consortium of 34 partners, including research and technical institutes, breeders and seed companies, as well as other players involved in pulse breeding in 18 countries (15 EU countries, Switzerland, the UK and Lebanon). It was officially launched on 17 and 18 October by INRAE, the project leader, in Ancenis (Loire-Atlantique). The partners will have the opportunity to discuss the objectives and methodologies of BELIS, with a view to establishing the initial stages of the project.
It will work on seven forage crops (red, white and annual clover, alfalfa, sainfoin, birdsfoot trefoil and vetch) and seven cereal crops (pea, faba bean, soya, white lupin, lentil, chickpea and common bean) representing the diversity of legume species grown in Europe.
Strong involvement of the institute
Within this project, Terres Inovia will provide the link with a network of players - to be created - that will put European pulse breeders, researchers and all the other players involved in plant improvement in touch with each other (registrars, extension services, farmers, industries). This network will facilitate access to innovation and the transfer of project results, as well as encouraging exchanges and collaboration between the various network members.
The Institute will also be involved in sharing and pooling evaluation protocols for the different species of grain legumes and the results of variety recommendations. It will also be involved in setting up a Europe-wide pea variety evaluation network.
Finally, the FILEG association, led by Terres Inovia, will serve as one of 23 case studies on a European scale to identify practices and success factors for commercial and governance models for legume breeding.