Crop resilience & soil health

In collaboration with VIB, this project examines climate-change resilience and ecosystem sustainability for economically vital crops in Flanders: wheat, pear and soybean.

Addressing critical challenges in soil health and nitrogen emissions, the consortium investigates how these crops perceive and adapt to heat and drought stress, and how those adaptations cascade into soil-microbiome functioning, plant–soil nutrient dynamics, carbon sequestration and atmospheric emissions.

Leveraging the collaborative expertise and advanced environmental facilities of UHasselt CMK (Ecotron) and VIB (Agro-Incubator), the research employs multi-level ecological screening, from the protein to the ecosystem level, to enhance crop protection while preserving broader agricultural ecosystem health.