In a world where climate change is threatening our farming systems with extreme weather and new diseases and pests, most of our food comes from crops such as wheat, rice and maize. This makes us vulnerable, especially given the unstable geopolitical situation, where trade barriers can cause marketing problems.
In light of the above, the partners of the project “FUnCrop – Strengthening food security through conservation and knowledge development of underutilised crops” have decided to further investigate so-called underutilised crops. These crops are important genetic resources that can be grown on a much larger scale and contribute to more resilient farming systems. However, they have not been studied as much as larger-scale crops. That is why this project is so important.
The project will carry out field trials on all the crops on the list to gain more knowledge about them and develop research methods on how best to grow them. A network will also be set up to establish long-term cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic countries and Ukraine.
The project will study the following species: buckwheat, vetch, broad beans, lentils, grey peas, flax, lupin and mustard. METK is involved in the research on broad bean, vetch, flax and grey pea.
From theCentre of Rural Research and Knowledge, Külli Annamaa is participating in the project, leading the networking working group. Lea Narits, Ireene Roman and Tiia Kangor are also involved in the project.
Külli Annamaa and Ireene Roman from METK will participate in the seminar in NordGen in 2025.
The project partners are: Nordic Genetic Resource Centre NordGen (Sweden), The Centre of Estonian Rural Reseach and Knowledge, LSFRI ‘Silava’ genebank and the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics (Latvia), National Forestry Administration, Vokė Department of the Centre for Agricultural and Forestry Research and the Department of Higher Education, and the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering (Lithuania), V.Y. Yuryev Institute of Plant Breeding and its Ustymivska Experimental Centre and the Carpathian Regional Agricultural Institute.
The deadline for completion of the project is 31 October 2026.