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New Round of PPP-projects Approved

Date: 2021.02.08

The picture above shows spring wheat with a yellow rust infection observed in field in Vollebekk in the very dry season of 2018.
Photo: Morten Lillemo

When the public and private sector works together magic happens. That’s why we, as the secretariat for the Nordic Public Private Partnership on pre-breeding, are very happy to announce that three new projects have been approved for the fifth round of PPP-funding. The projects target spring wheat, phenotyping technology and apples.

The Nordic market for plant breeding is small, but as we have particular growing conditions we can’t depend on large, multinational companies to do the breeding for us. Instead, we must cooperate within our region. Cooperation is the very core of the Nordic Public Private Partnership for pre-breeding (PPP) where pre-breeding is the costly and time-consuming initial step of plant breeding.

“It is my great joy to announce that the Steering Committee has decided to provide funding for three new projects within this important partnership. We expect that all these projects will provide significant knowledge in their respective fields and contribute to a more sustainable and competitive Nordic agriculture”, said Birgitte Lund, Chair of the PPP Steering Committee.

Apples, wheat and phenotyping

The PPP-projects are funded by the Nordic governments and the private companies taking part in the projects. The three projects have been granted a total funding of 12,7 million DKK from the public sector. The private sector will contribute with the same amount. One of the newly funded projects is CResWheat, which is aiming at supporting the breeding of climate-resilient spring wheat.

Therese Bengtsson. Photo: Inger Åhman

“We will do this by identifying genetic resources for disease resistance, drought tolerance and important adaptive traits for the Nordic region. There is an urgent need for developing spring wheat that can withstand different diseases and the effects of climate change. I’m confident that this project will contribute to that work in a very positive way”, said Therese Bengtsson, Project Leader working at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The project CResWheat can be followed at Twitter under @CResWheat.

Drones and artificial intelligence

Another project granted funding in this round is the plant phenotyping project called 6P3. The project partners have already delivered valuable information in previous projects within the same field and are now happy to continue their work.

“The use of technology in plant phenotyping and breeding is an important tool saving us hours and hours in the field work. Through the continuation of our work in this project, we hope to further investigate and reach important conclusions regarding new technology and artificial intelligence” said the Project Leader Svend Christensen, working at University of Copenhagen.

The third project, about apples, is aiming to gather and publish information gained in an earlier project.

Potato project might also be funded

A fourth project is also still in the running for being approved funding. PPP SustainPotato would be aiming at advancing the Nordic potato cultivar development with enhanced resistance to diseases by pre-breeding. The Steering Committee found the project very relevant with a strong team and good infrastructure but had some comments on the project plan. However, they are positive to funding an updated project.

The projects that have been granted funds in the fifth round of the PPP-collaboration started this year and will continue until for three years until the end of 2023.