ValueFarm is a 3-year project and aims to valorize Mediterranean small farms by introducing wild edible plants of the Mediterranean (WEPs) such as Crithmum maritimum L., Portulaca oleracea L., Sonchus sp., Scolymus hispanicus L., and Cichorium spinosum L. as complementary crops within a competitive farming sector and a climate-changing world and cropping them in a sustainable point of view. The assessment of using WEPs in arduous conditions (drought and salinity stress) and marginal soils with low organic matter, compacted, or eroded where conventional crops cannot be cultivated will also be carried out. Moreover, the contribution of WEPs cultivation to soil properties improvement will be assessed by reducing or eradicating the use of agrochemicals, and by introducing the use of a more sustainable agriculture with biostimulants, biofertilizers and biopesticides and the use of tailored composts.
Finally, the selected WEPs will be assessed for their nutritional value and bioactive compounds content in order to select and propose those farming systems that increase the quality of the final product and its added value.
