SEMINAR ON THE FUNCROP PROJECT “STRENGTHENING FOOD SECURITY BY CONSERVATION AND KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING OF UNDERUTILIZED CROPS”

On June 30-July 02, 2025, a meeting of representatives of genebanks of the Baltic Sea countries, Ukraine and the Nordic countries from the FUnCrop project “Strengthening Food Security by Conservation and Knowledge-Building of Underutilized Crops” was held at NordGen (Alnarp, Sweden) with the participation of an international project provided by the Swedish Institute (SI) within the framework of the SI Baltic Sea Neighborhood Programme. The following institutions of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine took part in this seminar: Yuriev Plant Production Institute (Olha Bezuhla, Nataliia Kuzmyshyna, Kseniia Dokukina), Ustymivka Experimental Station of Plant Production of the Yuriev Plant Production Institute (Oleh Tryhub), Institute of Agriculture of the Carpathian Region (Tetiana Patryka, Yuliia Lisova, Ruslana Huk).

The project purpose is to recognize and promote the genetic resources of underutilized crops, which is of vital importance for solving the challenges of food security and resilience to climate change; to establish long-term cooperation between Northern European countries, Baltic Sea countries and Ukraine by creating a network for the preservation and use of underutilized crops. The project covers studying the peculiarities of growing the following crops: bean, buckwheat, vetch, kidney bean, lentil, pea, lupine, and mustard; developing methods for their cultivation under different climatic conditions, and exchanging information and experience among scientists and farmers.

During the meeting, the participants got acquainted with NordGen FUnCrop field trials (flax, kidney bean, vetch, fodder bean, and lupine). They were introduced to NordGen’s regeneration facilities and visited the NordGen seed laboratory. They participated in discussions and comparisons of protocols and methods for germination and regeneration of underutilized crops that have great potentials for large-scale cultivation to improve food security. The participants could receive information from a Swedish farmer about underutilized crops and had a training visit to his farm.

In addition, the following organizations participated in the discussions and presentations of results of different groups working at the project: Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge (METK) (Estonia); LSFRI "Silava" (Latvia); Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics (AREI), Lithuanian State Forest Service, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (Lithuania).