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Collaborative project: Ensuring multifunctionality in forage production through species richness in intensive grasslands - Subproject B (Simultan-G-2030)
Project
Project code: 281C702B21
Contract period: 01.04.2023
- 31.05.2026
Budget: 210,016 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Keywords: animal nutrition, other forages, grasses, abiotic stress, climate change adaptation, seed and planting material, agricultural biodiversity, grassland, cattle, feed crop production
Species-rich grasslands provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) simultaneously. The range of plant species used in intensive grassland management for dairy cattle is limited to a few representatives of the grasses and legumes. Many leguminous and non-leguminous dicotyledonous plant species have not been cultivated so far, they are hardly considered in cultivation and officially not recommended at all. Dicot plant species have a high forage value, are often more drought tolerant than grasses due to deep roots and contain secondary metabolites. These properties are crucial in the case of expected increasing drought (deep roots) and for reducing methane emissions from ruminants (secondary constituents). A central problem of these hitherto little-known, minor dicotyledonous plant species is the insufficient knowledge of the agronomic and qualitative properties as well as the prospects for further breeding work, because there is largely a lack of clarity on the intra-specific variation of the ES of individual plant species. The proposed collaborative project therefore pursues the goal of establishing and utilising species-rich grassland in order to simultaneously provide important ES through improved breeding varieties in adapted novel mixtures or through strip cropping. Selected species with valuable traits are identified in a systematic approach and the intra-specific variability of traits is determined and described in a "pre-breeding" approach. In particular, the ES focus on biodiversity (flowering range), drought tolerance (stomatal conductance), plant secondary metabolites (PSM such as tannins), persistence, winter hardiness, competitive vigour and establishment success, as well as forage quality, yield and biological nitrogen fixation. A cultivation protocol of each species is prepared specifically.
Section overview
Subjects
- Plant Breeding
- Climate Change
Framework programme
Funding programme
Excutive institution
Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)
Funding institution
Project management agencies
Associated projects: Simultan-G-2030
- Collaborative project: Ensuring multifunctionality in forage production through species richness in intensive grasslands - Subproject A
- Collaborative project: Ensuring multifunctionality in forage production through species richness in intensive grasslands - Subproject C
- Collaborative project: Ensuring multifunctionality in forage production through species richness in intensive grasslands - Subproject D
