Crop wild relatives (CWRs): a promise for the future of the European organic farming systems

The crop wild relatives (CWRs) are the COUSINs of domesticated crops which have represented since some decades an important source of natural genetic variation for the urgently required agroecological transition. In fact, CWRs can be important allies for reaching the transition results for more sustainable and nutritious food, in line with the EU Green Deal policy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, 75% of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plant species and since the 1900s, some 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers worldwide have left their diverse set of local varieties and landraces for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties. From this perspective, Crop Cousins are a promise for the future. In this frame, 26 partners from 12 European countries joined their effort to set up the European Union-funded project “Crop Wild Relatives Utilization and Conservation for Sustainable Agriculture” (COUSIN - Project: 101135314 — HORIZON-CL6-2023-BIODIV-01). For five flagship crops, i.e. barley, brassica, lettuce, pea, wheat, the COUSIN main objectives are to: i) identify pathways to use CWRs to strengthen sustainable agriculture; ii) recognize preferred in situ genetic conservation reserves; iii) determine stakeholder-demanded characteristics of CWRs; iv) implement CWRs into breeding and farming activities; v) provide information about CWRs in an accessible format to stakeholders and potential users; vi) train and raise awareness about the value of CWRs in the society. As results of the project it is foreseen to provide new organic heterogenic materials (OHMs) to use for organic farming of the five flagship crops above mentioned to increase the resistance to biotic and abiotic stress and to increase the organoleptic and nutraceutical traits of the produce. Moreover, COUSIN will develop a trans situ conservation strategy that coordinates in situ and ex situ approaches for an efficient and effective conservation of CWRs. The project COUSIN began last January 2024, and it will finish at the end 2028.