SOYSTAINABLE

• Reduce the environmental impact of soybean cultivation by increasing local soybean production in France
• Improve France's competitiveness on the soybean market and reduce its dependence on soybean imports
• Develop new soybean varieties adapted to local soil and climate conditions and resilient to climate change
• Generate innovative knowledge on soybean-microorganism interactions, cold tolerance, food protein quality and agronomic modeling
• Understand the obstacles to the development of soybean consumption in France

The aim of the SOYSTAINABLE project is to promote high-quality, protein-rich soybean food production in France, by developing new genetic resources and cultivation methods for a locally adapted soybean crop, and more specifically :

• Create collections of early-maturing European soybean genetic resources, including induced or natural genetic diversity.
• Improving soybean protein quality without affecting the plant's physiology and stress tolerance.
• Evaluate and develop locally adapted soybean varieties that are resilient to climate change.
• Capture the microbial diversity of French soils and optimize microbial communities beneficial to soybean cultivation in France.
• Develop agronomic models of soybean cultivation for food to predict soybean performance in different locations in France under various scenarios.
• Investigate socio-technical blockages to soy consumption and explore new food uses for soy, such as edamame, by introducing food innovations and citizen science approaches.

• Acquisition of new knowledge on soybean-microorganism interactions, cold tolerance, protein quality genetics and agronomic modeling.
• Generation, conservation and exploitation of microbial and plant collections.
• Development of new agricultural practices and beneficial microorganisms for soybean cultivation.
• Analysis of socio-technical barriers and levers, which will enable us to better understand blockages and promote new food uses for soybean as well as its cultivation.
• Training and renewal of the R&D community working on soybean, creating a network of young technicians, researchers and experts to implement the project's emerging scientific and socio-economic concepts.