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Project

Vigorous

Date

From until

Supported by

Context

The population and consumption growth is rapidly increasing the demand for agricultural food production. At the same time, increasing environmental awareness raises concerns about agricultural practices in terms of their impact on ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Dealing with these challenges requires a multifaceted global approach, including an optimized use of nutrient input and an increased crop tolerance to environmental stress. To this end, innovative technologies based on bioresources include the use of microalgal biostimulants to improve crop yield while lowering the environmental footprint of agriculture.

Microalgen

Project objective

However, the limited amount of scientific evidence that 1) microalgal biostimulants effectively improve agronomic efficiency, including a lack of understanding on the underlying mode of action, and that 2) microalgal biostimulants do not present a risk to the natural environment hampers the further development and establishment of this technology.

Moreover, market success of microalgal biostimulants hinges on an optimised cultivation process to ensure a high yield and a standardised content of microalgal products. The VIGOROUS research consortium will address these knowledge gaps to facilitate evidence-based application of microalgal biostimulants and to support a science-based biostimulants industry to sustainably intensify agricultural production with an enhanced resilience to climate change.

Partners

Related research lines