Project description

The aim of the INVITE project was to promote new varieties with high resistance to biotic (living) and abiotic (e.g. chemical and physical) stresses. Existing varieties will be better adapted to sustainable farming methods and made more resistant to climate change through research and breeding. Different tools for genotyping (determination of differences in genetic make-up) and phenotyping (determination of appearance) were tested during the project in variety testing on the crop species wheat, maize, sunflower, forage grass (English ryegrass), potato, tomato, apple as well as soya, rapeseed and alfalfa. In terms of their diversity and breeding frequency, these species represent the entire food and feed production of the EU.

The following topics were addressed:

• Identification of plant traits and bioindicators associated with efficiency, sustainability and resilience to different environmental conditions
• Development of new phenotyping and genotyping tools to assess bioindicators related to better adaptation to more sustainable cultivation practices and variable climatic conditions, and to improve the speed, accuracy and efficiency of variety testing
• Creation of crop models and statistical tools that allow prediction of variety performance
• Improve existing variety testing protocols for variety characterisation (distinctness, uniformity and stability - DUS) and performance testing (VCU)
• Definition of new procedures for the management of reference collections
• Propose organisational innovations to improve variety testing networks, taking into account their socio-economic and environmental impact
• Recommendations to policy makers to improve the harmonisation of DUS and VCU testing at EU level
• Facilitate data exchange within the consortium and develop a prototype of a common database
• Design of a prototype decision support system for variety selection (DSS-VC)

As part of the project, we provided historical VCU and DUS data as a testing office for national variety authorisation and as a testing office for post-registration variety testing. We are also involved in international trials for wheat, maize and ryegrass-clover mixtures. In the case of soya bean, we were responsible for the crop species in the project. Other responsibilities included the harmonisation of variety descriptions in the national Descriptive Variety Lists and the evaluation of synergies between VCU and DUS testing.

Results

Historical data going back to 2003 were provided from the value test for winter wheat, maize, sunflower, English ryegrass and soya bean and from the register test for wheat, maize and soya bean.

Wheat

Wheat variety trials including variety mixtures and populations under organic and conventional conditions in 2021 and 2022 in Großnondorf and Grabenegg, in Großnondorf with soil sensors.

In winter wheat, we were involved in international trial series at the locations Großnondorf (Hollabrunn district) and Grabenegg (Melk district) with an international assortment, variety mixtures and populations under organic and conventional conditions. Soil sensors were installed in Großnondorf and provided the data. The field trials were completed in 2022 and analysed together with the project partners. In Austria, dough and baking tests were also carried out in addition to the field parameters and indirect quality parameters.

Wheat and spelt

In connection with drone flights, we tested the app system for ground cover"Canopeo" in the organic VCU wheat and spelt/wheat trial at BBCH 43-47. The digital values for the ground cover levels were correlated with visual observations. A drone flight over the wheat INVITE trials and over VCU trials in June 2022 targeted the parameters RGB, NDVI (vegetation index), CIR (colour infrared) and single spike detection. These data were correlated with grain yields.

Forage crops

From 2020 to 2022, trials with English ryegrass-red clover mixtures were carried out at the Grabenegg and Hagenberg trial sites. The aim was to expand the guidelines for variety testing to include trials with species mixtures. In addition to the usual parameters used in forage plant variety testing, the proportion of species was also recorded. New phenotyping tools were also tested.

Harmonisation of variety rating scales

We led the task on harmonisation of variety rating scales and synergisms between VCU and DUS tests. In a survey to the national variety evaluation offices (EOs) and post-approval variety testing organisations (PROs) in the INVITE project, the possibilities of harmonising the scales of the national Descriptive Variety Lists were explored.

A further survey investigated synergies between VCU and DUS testing In summary, there is a willingness among INVITE POs and PROs to harmonise the scales in the national Descriptive and Recommended Lists. However, they emphasised the high value of long-term data sets and some could not imagine changing their system based on the raw data. However, harmonisation in the use of rating scales would not require them to be changed.

For countries wishing to adapt their rating systems, the first step recommended is to discuss with stakeholders and economic operators a switch to a scale score of 1 for a very low value of a property and 9 for a very high value.

The potential for synergies between DUS and VCU testing was assessed for each of the plant species tested in INVITE. 28% of the parameters are partly used in DUS and VCU testing. However, there are differences between countries. Some parameters are carried over from the DUS test to the VCU test, such as the seasonal type in wheat. Others are better suited for synergies, such as the navel colour in soybeans. Differences in scale between VCU and DUS should be avoided for these parameters. In the future, image analysis could be used more frequently for visual characteristics in VCU and DUS.

Benefit of the project

The project is expected to have a great positive influence on the line work in variety testing (value testing in register testing). Participation in the Consortium means involvement in the further development of variety testing at the international level.