March 18, 2024

INCREASE Project Invited to Feature at St. Ingbert Seed Exchange

On 2 March 2024, Eurice Senior Project Manager Tamara Messer presented the Horizon 2020 project INCREASE at the St. Ingbert Seed Exchange, a local event aimed to promote the swapping of regional seeds, emphasising the importance of preserving agricultural and culinary diversity. Organised by the city of St. Ingbert, where the Eurice headquarter is based, the event took place in the city’s town hall.

Focusing on the pulses chickpea, common bean, lentil and lupin, INCREASE develops, tests and implements a new approach to conserve, manage and characterise genetic resources through participatory research to foster agricultural biodiversity in Europe. The project includes a Citizen Science Experiment in which over 1,000 old bean varieties are grown and evaluated by volunteers from all over Europe. The aim of the experiment is to preserve forgotten bean varieties, better understand their characteristics and make them usable for the future, also in the face of changing conditions due to climate change.

At the St. Ingbert Seed Exchange, visitors were curious to see INCREASE bean varieties from all over the world, learn surprising facts about pulses and get answers to their questions about the project and its Citizen Science Experiment. "It was a lively exchange and many people were enthusiastic about the opportunity to save old varieties while contributing to scientific research", Tamara recapped after the event. "It is delightful to see that the INCREASE Citizen Science Experiment sparks interest among very diverse societal groups comprising children, teenagers, elderly people, teachers and public institutions. Joining scientific and societal forces is urgently needed to safeguard agrobiodiversity for our and future generations".