Research project BL/50/C-SA02 (Research action BL)
Belgium is nr 1 exporter of frozen potato products. China, by far the largest world producer and consumer of potato, produces alone a quarter of the world production. In 2016, China promoted potato as the 4th staple food besides rice, wheat and corn, with its potential for further expansion: yields can be improved and so potato is a key crop for improving food security. It is mostly grown in mountainous poor areas in W- China, a priority in develop-ment policies. In South Africa potato is the major vegetable crop, comprising 50% of the total vegetable crop value and generating 10% of the agri- employment.
Soil quality, both physico-chemical and biological, is a key factor to obtain high yields of healthy potato tubers, with soil microbiome biodiversity playing a complex and major role in nutrient availability for plants and in the development (or not) of soil-borne diseases of potato plants. It in influenced by agricultural practices like organic amendment, cover-crops, and application of crop protection treatments such as pesticides.
Metagenomic profiling using next generation sequencing recently opened broad perspectives to study the dynamics of the soil microbiome. New non-invasive technique of silicone wristbands worn as a passive sampling tools allows to study the exposure of people to fungicide, much more easily than by classical blood or urine sampling. These two techniques will lead to better evaluation of the impact of fungicide applications on both the microbiome and human health and build up crop protection strategies that minimize this impact.
Changing climate conditions leading to increase in atmospheric CO2 and/or longer dry periods may be more beneficial to potato compared to grain crops. Increasing temperature and change in water regimes are likely to modify the behavior of bacterial and fungal athogens too, as well as the nature and dynamics of the microbiome. Running climate and plant growth models and experiments in growth chambers and greenhouses will help understand the possible evolution of the plant-soil-microbiome complex and explore adaptative cropping strategies to fit the changing conditions.
Specific objectives
- Risk assessment of small farmers working with backpack sprayers and of 2nd-hand exposure of their families to fungicides from potato crops, determined using silicon wristband
- Validation of the analytical method for fungicide determination and stability study of the wristband as a tool for human exposure
- Evaluation of the impact of agricultural practices on the soil microbiome
- Evaluation of the impact of agricultural practices on forage quality of root cover crops
- Evaluation of impact of climate change on the soil microbiome and potato crop physiology.
