AgroCropFuture

The Center of Excellence for Agroecology and new crops in future climates (AgroCropFuture) 

The Center Excellence for Agroecology and New Crops in Future Climates addresses the challenges of field agriculture in future climates and the non-sustainable ecological footprints of food production systems focusing on: 

• breeding climate-adapted varieties and testing new crops under current and predicted future conditions; 
• identifying the links between microbial communities, crop yields and ecosystem services; 
• harnessing the diversity of plant growth-promoting microbia to simultaneously maximize agricultural yields and ecosystem services; 
• creating AI-based eDNA methodology and global molecular database of microorganisms for developing sustainable agricultural practices in different croplands under current and future conditions. 

The Center further serves as a catalyst of modern agriculture by transfer of knowledge and creating intellectual property for immediate application, including novel crop varieties, growth-promoting microbial lines, biofertilizers and AI approaches for maximization of crop yields and ecosystem services. 

Principal Investigator: Professor Ülo Niinemets, Estonian University of Life Sciences 

Partners: 

• University of Tartu 
• The Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge  

Funding: Ministry of Education and Research / Estonian Research Council 

Project volume: 7 000 000 euros 

Duration: 01.01.2024–31.12.2030 

See also the the project description in ETIS.