ROTATES Project Launches to Boost Agrobiodiversity Through Minor Root and Tuber Crops

BRUSSELS - Oct. 8, 2025 - PRLog -- A €5 million Horizon Europe initiative kicks off to promote sustainable farming and food innovation across Europe.

The European-funded project ROTATES (Minor ROot and Tuber crops fostering AgrobiodiversiTy and Ecosystem Services) officially launched in July 2025. With a budget of €5 million and a four-year timeline, the project aims to introduce and promote minor starchy root and tuber crops (sweet potato, yams, cassava, and taro) across European agrosystems. These crops, currently underutilized in Europe, hold significant potential to enhance agrobiodiversity, ecosystem services, and food system resilience.

Driven by a multidisciplinary and multi-actor approach, ROTATES brings together 18 partners from seven EU countries (France, Cyprus, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Slovenia) and two associated countries (United Kingdom and Republic of Congo). The project responds to soaring demand for root and tuber crops in Europe, which has tripled in the last decade.

ROTATES will identify key levers for adoption along the value chain, develop agroecological practices such as crop rotation and intercropping, and establish breeding hubs and clean seed systems. It will also explore innovative food and feed transformation processes while promoting uptake through marketing and capacity-building initiatives.

"With ROTATES, we aim to promote agroecological systems based on root and tuber crops," said Hâna Chaïr, Project Coordinator (CIRAD). "We will also test new transformation approaches for diverse and healthy human and animal nutrition. Our goal is to increase biodiversity in European agrosystems, strengthen farm resilience, and create new market opportunities."

By integrating underutilised root and tuber crops into both conventional and organic farming systems, ROTATES will contribute to improving producers' income, enhance product value, reduce import dependence, and support the EU's sustainability ambitions.

About ROTATES ROTATES is a Horizon Europe-funded research and innovation project focused on enhancing agrobiodiversity and ecosystem services through the introduction of minor root and tuber crops. Coordinated by the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), the project runs from July 2025 to June 2029 and involves 18 partners across Europe and Africa, including CIRAD, Institut National de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Cyprus University of Technology, Université de Liège, University of Madeira - ISOPlexis, Centre Sustainable Agriculture and Food Technology, University of the Azores, Instituto Nacional de Investigaçao Agraria e Veterinaria, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics - Research Center for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing (CREA-IT), Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Lyfe, Scotland's Rural College, Associação da Costa Oeste, European Network of Living Labs, Innovation Technology Cluster Murska Sobota, Thomas Plants, Agricultural University of Athens, Association Panakuh, Université Marien N'gouabi, and Instituto Canario de Investigaciones Agrarias.

Contact Information Hanâ Chaïr, Project Manager at Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD)

Website: www.rotates.eu