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.
Aim and Objectives
The key objectives of the ValueFarm project are summarized as follows: 1) to propagate and cultivate selected WEPs species, 2) to describe and evaluate agronomic performance of WEPs through laboratory-based research and farm experimentation in order to establish best practice guides of plant requirements with respect to mineral nutrition, soil and climate, environmental footprint (low GHG emissions, water and energy use), 3) to evaluate the potential of cultivating WEPs in degraded soils and assess their soil improvement properties, 4) to diversify existing farming systems from monocropping to agroecological systems rich in diversity through the incorporation of WEPs in mixed and intercropping systems and crop rotation programs combined with legumes, 5) to evaluate innovative approaches (biofertilizers, biostimulants or tailored composts that include beneficial microorganisms plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR); plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF); arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)),
6) to analyze chemical composition, nutritional value and bioactive compounds content of WEPs, 7) to increase knowledge and public awareness on the nutritional value and the bioactive compounds content of WEPs, as well as on their environmental impact (resistance/tolerance to drought and salinity stress factors), 8) to create physical labs through a network of farmers for the on-farm demonstration and to implement living lab platforms for technological transfer in each zone of the project of the obtained key results, both of which will facilitate the adaptation of Mediterranean small-scale farms to the proposed farming systems.
The described aims are in line with Goal 2 of the EU 2020 and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and intend to support agricultural growth in developing countries, with a focus on small-scale farmers and promote sustainable agricultural practices.
Expected impacts
The expected impacts of VALUEFARM are summarized in the following:
- The exploitation of WEPs in innovative farming systems
- The compilation of best practice guides regarding the cultivation of WEPs within the context of small-scale farming under diverse environmental conditions in order to assist farming management in regions and climates where conventional crops are difficult or unprofitable to grow
- The improvement of soil quality in small scale farms through sustainable farming techniques
- The adaptation of small-scale farming sector to the ongoing climate change with the adoption of alternative/complementary crops acclimatized to arduous conditions (water shortage, salinity, soil degradation) and redesigned farming systems tailor-made to small-scale farm needs and resilient to climate uncertainties
- The documentation of nutritional and chemical composition of WEPs so as to facilitate their further exploitation in pharmaceutics and cosmetics, in the design of “healthy” and “functional foods” and the better establishment of the so-called “Mediterranean diet”
- The definitive evaluation of the environmental footprint, climatic and soil requirements of WEPs under small-farm scale cultivation, focusing on their potential use as ameliorative species (e.g. in mixed-cropping, inter-cropping, successive cropping, crop rotation) and the sustainability of agro-ecosystems through the decrease of synthetic inputs, the optimized use of natural resources and circular bio-economy principles
- The demonstration and sharing of the created innovation with on-farm activities and the establishment of physical and living labs so as to allow integration and adoption of innovation among the targeted stakeholders during and after the completion of the project.
Working packages
ValueFarm is divided in six working packages (WP) and are interconnected as shown in Figure 1:
WP1. Knowledge update and administration of the project
WP2. Evaluation of WEPs under innovative farming systems
WP3. Evaluation of novel biofertilizers and soil amelioration properties of WEPs
WP4. Evaluation of quality, environmental footprint and nutritional value of WEPs
WP5. Communication activities
WP6. Dissemination of achieved knowledge
Deliverables
| 1.1 | Technical meeting organisation |
| 1.2 | Constitution of the Steering Group |
| 1.3 | Semestrial internal progress report |
| 1.4 | Technical meeting organisation |
| 1.5 | Semestrial internal progress report |
| 1.6 | Annual report |
| 1.7 | Semestrial internal progress report |
| 1.8 | Technical meeting organisation |
| 1.9 | Semestrial internal progress report |
| 1.10 | Annual report |
| 1.11 | Semestrial internal progress report |
| 1.12 | Technical meeting organisation |
| 1.13 | Semestrial internal progress report |
| 1.14 | Final report |
| 2.1 | A DATABASE map of the selected WEPs in the participating countries |
| 2.2 | Multilingual electronic handbook of technical information and best practice guides of the selected WEPs |
| 2.3 | Selection of the most environmentally sustainable WEP for each country conditions |
| 2.4 | Selection of the most sustainable WEP and legume combinations for each country conditions |
| 3.1 | Report for soil chemical properties in soil samples collected from the second field experiment |
| 3.2 | Determination of plant nutrients and potentially toxic elements in both soil and plant samples collected from the first experiment |
| 3.3 | Report for soil chemical properties in soil samples collected from the second field experiment |
| 3.4 | Determination of plant nutrients in both soil and plant samples collected from the second experiment |
| 3.5 | Determining the soil microbial community in soil samples collected from the second field experiment |
| 3.6 | Reports |
| 3.7 | Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals in an open access mode |
| 4.1 | Proximate composition and chemical profile of the different WEP’s |
| 4.2 | Report with the most suitable extraction conditions and mathematical models obtained by RSM) of the dependent variables used in the optimization of the extraction of the bioactive compounds from WEP’s |
| 4.3 | Overall composition description reports of the different WEP’s |
| 5.1 | Public meetings |
| 5.2 | Project website |
| 5.3 | Communication and Publicity material |
| 5.4 | Establish physical and living labs |
| 6.1 | Scientific publications |
| 6.2 | Video/DVD material |
| 6.3 | Handbooks |
| 6.4 | Publicity material |