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EXPLOWHEAT

Exploring durum wheat genotypes to minimize drought stress impact on grain yield and nutritional quality

EXPLOWHEAT

 

ABSTRACT

Human world population is rising, and global grain production needs to increase by 70% by 2050 to provide food and feed in an equitable, healthy, and sustainable manner. This ambitious goal requires the exploitation of marginal agricultural land, with severely limiting soil mineral composition, nutrient depletion, increasing water scarcity, acidity, salinization, depletion of organic matter, and poor drainage. Climate change will superimpose on these conditions in various regions of the world, including Europe, and in particular the Mediterranean area.

Durum wheat is one of the world’s most consumed cereal grains and its most important growing area is situated in the Mediterranean Basin, which produces about 60% of world production. Its importance and the great uncertainty related to the possible effects of climate change, reveal the necessity of understanding the impact of global warming for wheat productions in Mediterranean regions and to find solution to mitigate its effects.

EXPLOWHEAT ambition is to identify cultivars, and genetic combinations, of DW able to efficiently cope with limitation of natural resources by studying the dynamic mechanisms that plants are faced under field and field-like conditions at a multidisciplinary level.

 

Identification Code: CUP J89C19000140005

Total project cost: 924.216,88

Total cost DAFNE: 424.160,51

DAFNE Role: Lead Partner
Scientific Supervisor DAFNE: Prof. Stefania Astolfi

Email: sastolfi@unitus.it

Start date: 02/12/2020

End date: 01/12/2024

 

LINK

https://old.unitus.it/it/dipartimento/explowheat

 

PARTNERSHIP

Participant No *

 

PI nameOrganisation Country
 (Coordinator)

(PO, UNITUS)

Stefania ASTOLFIUniversità degli Studi della TusciaItaly
Partner 1

(P1, UNITO)

Gianpiero VIGANIUniversità degli Studi di TorinoItaly
Partner 2

(P2, CBS)

Mohamed Najib SAIDICenter of Biotechnology of SfaxTunisia
Partner 3

(P3, UNISE)

Miloud HAFSIFerhat Abbas University of SetifAlgeria

 

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  • Research Consortium

  • News & Events

    EXPLOWHEAT AT RADIO CUSANO CAMPUS 

    On one of the episodes of Radio Cusano Campus’ podcast, held on May 14 2022, Stefania Astolfi, Professor in Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE) of University of Tuscia, presents EXPLOWHEAT, a project coordinated by the University of Tuscia in partnership with the Ferhat Abbas University of Sétif (Algeria), the Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (Tunisia) and the University of Turin (Italy) that aims to bypass the thermal stress and drought that are manacing the agricultural world in the Mediterranea areas due to the effects of climate change.

    Here’s the acronym of the project explained: Exploring durum wheat genotypes to minimize drought stress impact on grain yield nutritional quality. The goal is indeed that of exploring the genotypes of durum wheat capable of reducing the effects of drought on crops’ productivity and nutritional quality. The main action will focus on identifying drought-tolerant wheat varieties and then selecting those that can absorb more nutrients from the soil.

    If you want to know more, click at the following link: https://www.radiocusanocampus.it/cerca-podcast/?_sf_s=Stefania%20ASTOLFI%20

     

    OUR FIELD TRIALS 

    Here’s a few snapshots of the Explowheat durum wheat varieties growing in our field trials. The goal is to identify specific genotypes with high performance in terms of drought-tolerance and nutrients absorption from the soil. One step closer to the project objectives!

     

    IMPRESA – EXPLOWHEAT WORKSHOP

    On February 21-22, 2022, a Joint Meeting of PRIMA projects IMPRESA and EXPLOWHEAT will be held in Viterbo, Italy.

    The workshop called “Facing abiotic stresses affecting durum wheat across the Mediterranean basin: the contribution of  PRIMA projects and EXPLOWHEAT”, sets up the ambitious goal of facing the challenges to global food security that increasingly affect Mediterranean countries.

    By integrating scientific background, applied research and novel approaches, the meeting aims at bringing together academic scientifists, researchers, and research scholars involved in both projects to exchange and share their experiences and research results with a wider audience.

    In light of the current restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the participation to the workshop will be possible in person, at the Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (DAFNE) of University of Tuscia (UNITUS), as well as online.

    For more information concerning the event and the agenda, click here.

     

     

    KICK-OFF MEETING

    The EXPLOWHEAT Kick-off meeting link  was organised in virtual mode by the Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (DAFNE) of University of Tuscia (UNITUS) on 18 February 2021.