NovoCrops teamNovoCrops: Accelerated domestication of resilient climate-change friendly plant Species

NovoCrops proposes to domesticate intrinsically resilient plants for a future sustainable agriculture. Nature has provided multiple means for withstanding environmental stresses, but stress resistance traits are complex and difficult to transfer between plants. Instead of improving established elite varieties, we will capitalize on unexploited natural diversity and employ new breeding techniques to develop novel crops..

Plant production is facing unprecedented challenges. The growing human population will increase the demand for staple crops and livestock by 60% by 2050. Yields will need to increase in the face of climate change, which is predicted to drastically limit plant production due to new and intensified environmental stress factors. Nature has provided multiple solutions to withstand environmental stresses and many wild plants thrive in harsh conditions. However, the underlying resilience traits are often complex and difficult to transfer between plants. Instead of aiming to improve established elite crop varieties, NovoCrops aims to lay the foundation for the next, sustainable green revolution that focuses on increasing crop diversity. Our approach involves focused breeding of wild ancestors of the main crops cultivated today and, concurrently, the domestication of neglected wild plants displaying genotype–environment interactions required for sustainable agriculture.

NovoCrops is a joint venture of the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University and brings together established and mid-career group leaders with expertise in crop breeding, plant genomics, transport engineering and plant physiology. The output will be novel sustainable agricultural systems that are adapted to challenging environments and capable of meeting future production demands.

 

 

 

 

 

Researchers

Name Title Phone E-mail
Search in Name Search in Title Search in Phone
Petersen, Anne-Mette Bjerg Laboratory Technician +4535327339 E-mail
Gao, Caixia Guest Researcher +4550167383 E-mail
Visintainer, Davide Postdoc +4535332215 E-mail
Geu-Flores, Fernando Associate Professor +4535332852 E-mail
Luo, Guangbin Assistant Professor +4535332099 E-mail
Yadav, Harsh PhD Fellow +4535326122 E-mail
Auis, Hussam Hassan Nour Eldin Associate Professor +4535333698 E-mail
Chiurazzi, Maurizio Junior Postdoc +4535320281 E-mail
Palmgren, Michael Broberg Professor +4535332592 E-mail
Lopez Marques, Rosa Laura Professor +4535332602 E-mail
Zhai, Xu Special Consultant +4535324143 E-mail

Funded by:

Novo Nordisk foundation logo

Project: NovoCrops: Accelerated domestication of resilient climate-change friendly plant species
Period:  2020-2025

Contact

Prof. Michael Palmgren
palmgren@plen.ku.dk

Partners

External members:

Name Title Phone E-mail
Henrik Brinch-Pedersen Professor hbp@mbg.au.dk
Kim Hebelstrup Associate professor kim.hebelstrup@mbg.au.dk
Claus Krogh Madsen Researcher clauskrogh.madsen@agro.au.dk
Tobias Hanak Postdoc tobias.hanak@agro.au.dk
Aristotelis Azariadis PhD student  aristoteles@agro.au.dk
Jovana Janjic PhD student jovana@agro.au.dk