ECOLEG: is confirmed to take place in Agropolis Montpellier Campus La Gaillarde, between august 24th and 28th, as final meeting of the GPF fabatropimed, and as an international symposium on the topic.
Objective
Fewer inputs and lesser dependency on chemical control of diseases become of paramount importance for the safety and impact on the environment. This implies new requirements with regard to the incorporation of legume species in agricultural systems and in forestry, including agro-forestry. Promoting the interaction of soil micro-organisms for legumes to acquire and use efficiently nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) will reduce the use of mineral-based fertilizers and increase carbon-dioxide sequestration. In addition, because of the high protein content of their seeds, grain legumes are attractive candidates for the plant-protein demand which has increased considerably over the last decades, both for food and feed uses.
For these purposes the components of an interdisciplinary strategy of research and participation of actors are proposed: Agronomy and environmental diagnosis, and sustainability assessment; N & P biogeographical cycles and C sequestration; Soil biota, symbiotic and rhizospheric microorganisms; candidate mechanisms and genes for N & P utilisation efficiency in plants. The objective of the meeting will be to revise the results obtained in these disciplinary fields over the last 5 years in PhD projects, on-going or yet defended in the above disciplines, and in multidisciplinary projects, including those coordinated by Eco&Soils of Montpellier like Intens&Fix and FabaTropiMed.