RECROP - Reproductive Enhancement of CROP resilience to extreme climate (CA22157)

Climate change poses a substantial threat to global food security by significantly reducing the yield of major crops due to extreme weather conditions. Among these, grain and fruit crops, crucial components of the human diet, are especially vulnerable due to their sensitivity to abiotic stresses during the critical process of sexual reproduction. Consequently, there’s an urgent need to develop advanced crop varieties resilient to reproductive stress. RECROP is an interdisciplinary team comprising agronomists, physiologists, geneticists, biologists, bioinformaticians, and Machine Learning researchers from both public and private sectors. RECROP employs comprehensive approaches to understand the basis of crop sensitivity and develop solutions for enhancing yields in the context of climate change. Its objectives include uncovering the genetic, molecular, and physiological factors influencing crop reproduction sensitivity, creating a strategic pathway for resilient crop development, and providing sustainable guidelines for enhancing resilience through exogenous treatments, thereby expanding genetically inherited stress tolerance. This mission will be executed through four Working Groups (WGs), which, alongside research discussions, will host training schools, workshops, conferences, and dissemination activities. RECROP prioritizes support for Early Stage Career Researchers and Innovators, fostering networking and collaboration with neighbouring COST countries. We aim to establish communication channels with Policy Makers to offer scientific insights and guidance for evidence-based policies in the realms of biotechnology, technology, and agriculture sectors and increase the awareness among the general public about the importance of sustainable solutions for crop improvement.

Join RECROP and support of our mission. Apply here: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22157/

Sotirios (Akis) Fragkostefanakis

Group Leader at Goethe University Frankfurt
RECROP-COST Action Chair

Email: fragkost@bio.uni-frankfurt.de
Phone: +49 69 798-29287

Max-von-Laue Str9, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany

Research team

Publications