Building Robustness in Crops: Improving dicotyledonous crops for sustainable crop rotation

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Work Package (WP) 4 aims to provide a step change towards understanding the genetic basis of plant responses to environmental challenges with a focus on dicotyledonous UK crops. To this end we will exploit existing and novel genetic tools and resources.

Crop rotation is an essential part of farming practice required for consistent crop performance. In the UK winter wheat rotation is primarily supported by oilseed rape and to a lesser extent pea and field beans. With wheat as the focus of the DSW ISP we have dedicated this WP to the improvement of dicotyledonous crops in particular Brassica and pea.

Stable predictable yields in variable growing seasons caused by climate change will assist in maintaining resilient supply chains. It will enable us to grow crops with reduced pesticide inputs despite feeding pressure from growing insect pests. Faster breeding techniques will increase the probabilities that breeders can outpace climate change and keep our crops well adapted. New varieties will support expanded supply chains using controlled indoor environments shielded from variation in the external environment. Increased stability in pea yields will increase the number of UK farmers willing to grow pea and support a dietary transition to higher consumption of plantbased protein foods. Using AI-Based approaches we will provide unprecedented biological insights into how plants respond to complex environmental conditions in different growing seasons. This work will enable us to explore the fundamental mechanisms of gene regulation growth and reproduction in a field context with aims guided by the strategic need for more resilient crops. Our aim is to create germplasm with superior climate adaptation and increased resilience to variation in weather (temperature and rainfall) between growing seasons in Brassicas and pea. To do this we will create new methods for identification of loci important in adaptation new methods for investigating adaptation to seasonal temperature variation and investigate the genetics of robust performance under specific challenges identified through engagement with the supply chain.

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