Researchers to Collaborate in Developing Smart Breeding Methods for More Resilient Crops

Dutch universities and plant breeding companies will work together in developing smart breeding methods for crop varieties that are more climate-proof and less dependent on chemical plant protection. They will also work together on research, data collection and sharing, training, and advancing the broad application of the results.

Crops are faced with various challenges, such as pathogens, heat, drought, and flooding, which are partly due to climate change. The environmental regulations are also becoming tighter, which will decrease the farmers' ability to use protection products on their crops. Due to those reasons, Dutch universities and companies in the CropXR research programme will collaborate to help breeders quickly produce crops that are more sustainable and resistant to climate change.

The researchers will combine plant biology, computational modeling, and artificial intelligence to understand and predict how crops can better withstand stressful conditions. The knowledge that they will gain will enable them to make stronger and more resilient varieties of plants in a faster way compared to traditional methods.

For more information, read the press release of CropXR.