The fall armyworm (FAW) is a highly invasive and polyphagous pest native to the Americas, first detected in Africa in 2016 and which has since spread globally, including western Asia. By late 2023, FAW had reached mainland Europe, with detections in Greece and Romania. This pest now presents a major threat to European agriculture, as climate change and increased trade increase the likelihood of its establishment or presence across wide areas of Europe. The aim of EUFAWREADY is to provide European agricultural stakeholders—including farmers, advisors, and phytosanitary services—with the tools they need to respond quickly and effectively to potential FAW outbreaks. This involves tools to detect the presence of the pest the earliest possible and to effectively and sustainably manage the pest, thus minimizing the economic, environmental and social impact and the reliance on synthetic pesticides. The specific objectives of EUFAWREADY are to: i) Raise awareness and improve stakeholder preparedness regarding FAW risks, and enhance their engagement in management efforts; ii) Generate new knowledge on the biology of European FAW populations, focusing on traits that enhance their invasiveness potential; iii) Assess the economic and environmental impacts FAW could have on Europe; iv) Provide effective strategies for early detection and monitoring of FAW; v) Investigate a diversified array of sustainable control options that could be offered to European farmers, including the use of FAW natural enemies, microbial agents, and plant-based and natural semiochemical solutions; vi) Integrate these management strategies into guidelines intended to plant health actors, and an IPM toolbox to be provided to European farmers and advisers; vii) Ensure the project's scientific and technical findings are widely shared, so stakeholders are fully informed on FAW risks and management strategies by the project's end.

The Legume Generation consortium will invest in innovation that boosts the breeding of legumes in Europe by combining the entrepreneurial focus of breeders with the broad inventiveness of the supporting research base. Six species-oriented breeder-led innovation communities will link practical breeding with the research-base in a transdisciplinary framework. They lead the innovation work and each is focused on the breeding of a single species or species type: soya bean (Glycine max); lupins (Lupinus spp); pea (Pisum sativum); lentil (Lens culinaris); phaseolus bean (Phaseolus spp. e.g., ‘common’ bean); and white and red clover (Trifolium repens and T. pratense). These are supported by the cross-project collection of intelligence on ideotype concepts, beneficial traits, a catalogue of legume species and cultivars, and breeding methods assembled in the Legume Generation Knowledge Centre; the production and validation of novel resources (genotypes, methods, and tools); screening, demonstration and testing of germplasm and new cultivars in different regions; training to support breeding gains in our innovation communities; governance and financial models, and business plans for inclusive plant breeding. All this will be supported by consortium internal and external dissemination and communications, including the extension of the European Legume Hub as a platform for sharing of knowledge. We currently run 43 breeding and pre-breeding programmes. We will give these a decisive boost through access to resources that accelerates the production of novel germplasm, innovating up to the point where newly bred germplasm and cultivars are proven on farm. Breeders will use the results to support expansion of legume production. Our innovation communities will be open to all relevant actors and provide a direct route for the dissemination of results to other users and interested stakeholders. Their sustainability beyond the life of the project will be supported by business plans.

RustWatch will establish a stakeholder driven early-warning system to improve preparedness and resilience to emerging rust diseases on wheat, which is Europe’s largest agricultural crop. This is urgent because Europe in 2016 experienced the most severe epidemics of wheat stem rust for more than 50 years, and the pre-existing population of wheat yellow rust has been replaced by invasive races of non-European origin. RustWatch will address all areas listed in the call, including exploring the drivers shaping the new European wheat rust populations, assessment of their impact on agricultural productivity in the context of IPM Directive 2009/128/EC, and finally develop research and communication infrastructures taking advantage of stakeholder networks and expertise, and collaboration via existing global networks. RustWatch provides beyond state-of-the-art research within new diagnostic tools, enabling rapid and precise identification of new invasive races, and investigating the impact of virulence, aggressiveness and adaptation to warmer temperatures as drivers of pathogen spread and establishment. The research has potential for a break-through in the area of host resistance phenotyping, e.g., by going beyond the observation of disease and categorize resistance responses at the cellular level. This phenotyping is essential for utilizing the vast amount of genomic sequence information produced by new emerging breeding technologies. The early-warning system for prevention and control of rust diseases will become implemented via case studies in five regions. The case studies will aid in development and validation of the systems in collaboration with a wide array of stakeholder groups, involve agricultural advisers in disease surveillance and sampling for later diagnosis, and collect information about potential barriers in adopting the system. RustWatch engages 12 universities/research institutes, 5 agricultural advisory services, and 8 SMEs/industries.

The aim of BELIS is (i) to increase the competitiveness of the EU and Associated Countries legume breeding industry by improving the methodologies and the governance structures of the breeding sector; (ii) to design conditions that allow an efficient delivery of the achieved genetic progress to the breeders and seed industry, and to the other actors (registration offices, extension services, feed and food industry, farmers). The project will focus on seven forage crops and seven grain crop that are currently grown to produce feed (for ruminants – cattle, sheep, goat and monogastric animals – pig, poultry), food (as is or after processing) or to deliver ecosystem services. BELIS has three main objectives: (1) To develop tools and methodologies for cost-effective breeding programmes and deliver proofs of concept, with and for breeders, (2) To facilitate the economic and regulatory environment: variety registration, variety recommendation and business models, (3) To implement an efficient, ambitious and durable transfer of innovation through the BELIS platform that includes a network of breeders and actors from scientific research, extension services and seed, food and feed industries, as well as a training portfolio. By enabling the creation of improved varieties in many species, adapted to different areas and uses in Europe, this project is relevant for the destinations towards “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services”, mainly contributing to “Access to a wider range of crops and breeds with a broadened genetic base is improved in line with global biodiversity commitments”. It also supports the “Practices in agriculture and forestry support biodiversity and the provision of other ecosystems services”. In addition, BELIS will have a positive input on natural biodiversity, reduction of air and water pollutions and farming system sustainability.