Imagine if we could find the 'survival switch' in a desert grass and flip it in corn to keep it alive during a drought. This work finds those specific genetic switches and also creates natural 'energy drinks' from seaweed to help crops handle heat. It's like giving plants a better blueprint and a protective shield against water shortages.
Climate change is causing prolonged droughts that lead to severe yield losses in maize and teff. Current breeding and irrigation methods are insufficient to secure food stability under extreme water shortage.
A high-resolution genetic mapping tool (MOA-seq) for identifying drought-resilient traits and a suite of seaweed and microbial biostimulants.
If you are a seed breeder dealing with crop failure during dry spells — this project developed a high-resolution genetic mapping tool that identifies drought-resilient traits. This allows you to create maize and teff varieties that maintain yield stability under water-shortage conditions.
If you are a bio-product company dealing with the demand for eco-friendly farming — this project developed seaweed extracts and microbial stimulants. These products prime crops to tolerate abiotic stress, reducing the need for heavy irrigation.
If you are a consultant dealing with farmers losing maize yields to climate change — this project developed drought tolerant genotypes (DTGs). You can provide these high-performance seeds to ensure food security in harsh environments.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or cost structures for the MOA-seq methodology or biostimulants are not provided.
The project includes 6 industry partners and 5 SMEs, suggesting a focus on industrial applicability for maize and teff production.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned, though the project aims to improve the competitiveness of European and African agri-food industries.
The project runs from 2023-05-01 to 2027-04-30, meaning results and validated genotypes will be finalized by April 2027.
The MOA-seq strategy integrates with existing genome wide association studies (GWAS) to identify genetic variants at a higher resolution of 30 bp.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application, with 6 industry partners and 5 SMEs (a 43% industry ratio). This balance, combined with 4 universities and 4 research institutes across 10 countries, indicates a strong pipeline from lab discovery to market-ready agricultural products.
Contact the Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l'Analisi dell'Economia Agraria in Italy.
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for MOA-seq or seaweed-based biostimulants.
