Background & objectives

Past2ECO aims to elucidate the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms underlying crop adaptation to climate change by integrating the historical and contemporary diversity of wheat and sorghum. The challenge is to link genetic, phenotypic, environmental and agronomic diversity in order to predict and harness adaptation for sustainable agroecological systems.

Outcomes

The project will generate fundamental knowledge on the evolution of cultivated diversity, adaptation signatures and high-potential varietal mixtures to support climate-resilient agriculture. It will produce innovative and predictive methods in artificial intelligence, evolutionary biology and large-scale digital phenotyping.

Organisation

The project is structured into 4 work packages (WP):

• WP1 characterises historical diversity using ancient DNA from herbarium samples.
• WP2 identifies the genomic bases of adaptation and predicts future responses via ‘genomic offset’.
• WP3 evaluates genotype mixtures in the field along an adaptive gradient and through participatory experiments.
• WP4 develops AI approaches for variety discrimination and digital phenotyping.
• The integration of these interconnected strands brings together an interdisciplinary ecosystem of collaborators and forms part of a dynamic network of complementary projects (ArkaeoAG, SOrDrought, AGRODIV, Pl@ntAgroEco) as well as third-party organisations ensuring links with farmers and local stakeholders.