REFORMA: a new project for identification and selection of resilient, water- and energy-efficient forage and feed crops for Mediterranean agricultural systems.

Crop-livestock and feed systems have huge importance for Mediterranean regions to satisfy the increasing demand for animal products, increase the economic stability of smallholders and produce typical animal products with high added-value, while contributing to sustainable farming, environment protection and efficient nutrient cycling. These systems are threatened, however, by the marked insufficiency of high-protein feedstuff, the overexploitation of forage resources, the increasing costs and/or the decreasing availability of irrigation water and mineral fertilizers, and the increasing drought and heat stress arising from climate change. The development of resilient, water- and energy-efficient forage and feed legume crops could definitely alleviate these constraints. This is the objective of the ArimNet project "Resilient, water- and energy-efficient forage and feed crops for Mediterranean agricultural systems (REFORMA)", which joins nine research institutions from Italy, France, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and USA in an integrated manner to develop: 1) lucerne varieties with tolerance to severe drought, salinity, heat and grazing; 2) pea varieties with drought tolerance, targeted to grain and forage production; 3) cost-efficient marker-assisted selection procedures, and ecologically-based breeding strategies, for lucerne and pea; 4) lucerne-based and pea-based for age crops, taking into account the legume plant types, the associated grass or cereal species, the level of site drought stress, the acceptability by farmers, the forage quality and the target utilization.