Shaping Sustainable Berry Production Across Europe – the BreedingValue Project is Coming to an End
After four and a half years of committed research, the Breeding Value project is successfully concluding with final meetings and the publication of a brand-new video showcasing the project’s achievements and results.
In 2021, the BreedingValue team set out to develop new breeding strategies for resilient and high-quality berries – strawberries, blueberries and raspberries – while ensuring genetic diversity and responding to consumer quality and sensorial preferences. The goal was to shape sustainable and competitive berry production across Europe by addressing the need for new cultivation systems as well as high-quality produce due to current challenges posed by climate change and environmental preservation. In the past four years, the BreedingValue consortium has mapped the genetic biodiversity of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, applied new advanced genotyping technology and phenotyping tools, developed innovative data tools, and established a framework aligning breeding with consumer needs. The data generated within the BreedingValue project laid the basis for a groundbreaking online database dedicated to strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. The Berry Database, which can be found on the Germinate platform, is designed to support researchers, breeders, and enthusiasts alike, providing a wealth of information that is crucial for advancing berry science.
Saying “Arrivederci”: Final consortium meeting in Italy
The final consortium meeting at the beginning of April, hosted by the coordinating institution Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, was fully dedicated to presenting and discussing the results achieved during the past four and a half years of BreedingValue. Following the final internal meeting, the BreedingValue consortium invited to its final Workshop "Advancing Berry Breeding: From Phenotyping to Genomic Innovation", where results from the genotyping and phenotyping activities, as well as the consumer study perspective of BreedingValue were presented. With 120 attendees joining the workshop in person in Ancona and online, the final workshop was a great success. The workshop also featured several organisations that had participated in the BreedingValue Open Calls, giving them the opportunity to share their experiences and outcomes.
“Many participants highlighted the significant added value that collaboration brought to their work, as well as the tangible impact it had on their day-to-day operations. By involving end-users in specific research activities, the Open Calls provided an excellent platform to directly disseminate and apply the knowledge and tools developed throughout the BreedingValue project,” emphasises Léna Prochnow, Senior Research & Innovation Manager at EURICE.
The meeting was rounded off by a demonstration visit to the BreedingValue partner C.I.V. The tour included a visit to the experimental fields in Ferrara, a visit to the micropropagation laboratory and greenhouse at Vivaio Salvi in Lagosanto, as well as a visit to the strawberry plant processing warehouse and preparation of potted plants at the Mazzoni Nursery in Tresigallo.
New video sums up major project outcomes
Marking the end of the project, a recently published video showcases the project’s main accomplishments, featuring interviews with leading research team members, who share their insights on progress, challenges, and the future impact on berry genetic diversity and breeding.
You can watch the video on the project website and YouTube.
