SYMBIOM'S RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

The project's main aim is to adopt new cropping practices that increase the genetic and biological diversity of the soil to reduce the use of external inputs while increasing the production and quality of crops, the provision of ecosystem services and the stability and resilience of EU agriculture. Emphasis will be placed on the use of innovative practices based on the use of soil micro-organisms (including the development and testing of new commercial products), appropriate crop rotation, multiple cropping and intercropping, the development of pest warning systems, the use of catch crops to limit nutrient loss from the soil, or optimum tillage.

The project focuses on the development of aeroponic technology for growing agricultural crops in two types of cultivation: (1) in the greenhouse, (2) in the field. The existing cultivation system will be upgraded by introducing precise control of the system through control sensors (b) incorporation of microbial components, i.e., mycorrhizal fungi, soil bacteria, etc., (c) addition of organic components, and (d) introduction of the possibility of pre- and internal continuous ozone sanitation of the system. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peas/chickpeas were selected as model crops for greenhouse testing, and wheat/rice for the field unit. The project will also include the development of a novel aeroponic bioreactor for sterile inoculum production of mycorrhizal fungi on transformed root cultures to radically improve root growth and increase spore production for commercial plant production.