Project: Optimizing roots for sustainable crop production in Europe – pure cultures and cover crops

Acronym MaxRoot-C
Duration 01/11/2021 - 31/10/2024
Project Topic To reduce the effect of climate change on food security, carbon farming is indispensable. Mobilizing crop producers to support this transformation requires promotion of cropping systems with equivalent profitability, but higher soil C sequestration. The most viable yet neglected option is through increased and deeper roots of main and cover crops. MaxRoot-C will pioneer assessment methods closing this knowledge gap by providing robust hard data on the root C inputs of main crop varieties and different cover crops across the EU, to determine main drivers and model the C sequestering potential therein. It will provide policy relevant data on which to base future CAP instruments and contribute to the development of future carbon sequestration standards for the EU approved seed lists.
Website visit project website
Network EJP SOIL
Call 2nd EJP SOIL internal Call for proposals

Project partner

Number Name Role Country
1 University of Natural Resources and Life Science Coordinator Austria
2 Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Partner Austria
3 National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment France
4 Czech University of Life Sciences Partner Czech Republic
5 Aarhus University Partner Denmark
6 von Thünen Institute Partner Germany
7 Council for Agricultural Research and Economics Italy
8 Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Partner Lithuania
9 National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology Partner Norway
10 National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology Partner Spain
11 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Partner Sweden
12 Agroscope Partner Switzerland