Project: VALorization of Mediterranean small-scale FARMs by cropping wild UnExploited species

Acronym	VALUEFARM (Reference Number: 2019-SECTION2-28)
Project Topic	Small-scale farms are the backbone of the Mediterranean farming sector, whereas agriculture advances are targeted to large farms; however, the average land farm shrinks and the ongoing climate change makes farming prohibitive, especially for small-scale farms. Mediterranean agriculture is relatively more intensive in terms of per ha labor and output, but undermined by strong land fragmentation, making farms too small to be viable due to high production cost. The result is land abandonment and rural population ageing, since farming sector is unattractive to young farmers. Although efforts have been made to reallocate small farms and increase average farm size, several factors have hampered the progress. Agriculture intensification and mono-crop cultural approach has caused soil degradation and organic matter loss, with high impact on small-scale farms viability. Besides, conventional crops cannot feed the growing population and alternative/complementary food sources such as wild edible plants (WEPs) could be an important addition to human diet. Mediterranean agro-ecosystems host a rich patrimony of WEPs that have always been an important food source, while they are able to grow under arduous conditions and low input regimes. The main goal of VALUEFARM is to exploit selected WEPs of the Mediterranean basin as alternative crops, focusing on small-scale farms through the production of high added value products. Innovative farming systems will be designed based on traditional cultivation knowledge to allow the shift from mono-crop approach to sustainable and diversified cultivation systems, as well as to soil improvement. Physical and living lab platforms will be key elements for transferring the proposed farming systems to the related stakeholders. The interdisciplinary approach of the consortium allows the elucidation of the complex interaction of plant x environment, with special focus on soil conditions.
Network	PRIMA
Call	Section 2 Call 2019 - Multi-topic

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	University of Thessaly	Coordinator	Greece
2	Greek Fresh Vegetables IKE	Partner	Greece
3	University of Mostaganem	Partner	Algeria
4	Bergische University of Wuppertal	Partner	Germany
5	Cyprus University of Technology	Partner	Cyprus
6	DP AMARAKOS ORGANICS	Partner	Cyprus
7	Benha University	Partner	Egypt
8	Consejo Superior Investigaciones Científicas	Partner	Spain
9	Instituto Politécnico de Bragança	Partner	Portugal
10	Ege University	Partner	Türkiye
11	Dokuz Eylul University	Partner	Türkiye