Rhizosphere traits enhancing yield resilience to drought

As a result of climate change, cereal crops will undoubtedly be exposed to longer and more frequent periods of drought. How well they survive this depends on their interaction with water, nutrients, bacteria, and fungi in the soil. The new research network "RhizoTraits", coordinated by Prof. Johanna Pausch - research group agroecology, BayCEER/University of Bayreuth - is now seeking to get to the bottom of the varying resilience of cereal varieties. The results are to be incorporated into bio-economic concepts for strengthening food security. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the project initially for four years to the tune of 1,9 million Euro, one million of which will go to the University of Bayreuth.