« Changing world, rethinking innovation »
This call for communications takes place at a time of an acceleration of changes in the rapeseed/canola crop production context at local and global scales, including climate change and its consequences on cropping practices, pests and diseases, developments in genomics and gene editing and their applications in breeding, economics and disturbances in international trade and markets, etc… The IRC17 aims to take stock of the advances in scientific knowledge and technical innovations enabling the economical, environmental and social sustainability of rapeseed/canola production and uses.
The topic will cover the following subtopics:
- Origin, diversity and domestication of Brassica napus.
- Structural and functional dynamics of Brassica genomes using (pan)omic approaches.
- Recombination and intra/interspecific hybridization for pre-breeding.
- Advances regarding genome editing.
- Genomic and phenomic selection.
Presentations addressing whole genome approaches will be favoured. However, genetic and genomic studies of any traits of interest will also be considered (e.g., yield, seed quality, stress tolerance, …).
Oilseed rape diseases remain major constraints to sustainable production worldwide. Climate change is reshaping pathogen dynamics, influencing infection cycles, virulence, population structure and interactions with stressed host plants. Advances in plant-pathogen interactions studies, including the role of the microbiome, open new perspectives for plant resistance and cropping systems resilience.
The list of topics encompasses (but is not limited to):
- Biology and epidemiology at the individual and population levels.
- Interactions spanning from molecular to communities’ levels.
- Control strategies, from conventional to innovative strategies (fungicides, resistant varieties, microbiota recruitment, biocontrol or agroecological practices).
- Combinatory approaches, decision-support tools, and modelling for sustainable disease management.
Besides the special attention to blackleg, clubroot and sclerotinia, presentations are welcome on any pathogen (fungi, bacteria, viruses, …) and parasitic plants. Interdisciplinary presentations are welcome.
Insects are major pests of rapeseed for which basic knowledge on their biology and ecology is still needed. Different management strategies need to be implemented ranging from innovative sustainable levers to agroecological strategies. Presentations in this session will include topics such as:
- Biology and ecology of pests and their natural enemies.
- Innovations for sustainable protection (varietal resistance, biocontrol agents, natural substances, attractants and repellents, pheromones, RNAi…).
- Monitoring, forecasting, risk management and decision support tools.
- Agroecological strategies and combinatory approaches for insect pest management.
In a global context of climate change, geopolitical uncertainty, and the need to improve the sustainability of agricultural systems regarding environmental, economic and social dimensions, presentations may address:
- Rapeseed facing climate change: what are the current and future impacts on production? What adaptation strategies should be implemented? How to assess them?
- What farming practices and strategies for an agroecological and low input rapeseed, providing ecosystem services, and limiting environmental impacts?
- Rapeseed crops in diversified and sustainable cropping systems: benefits of system diversification on rapeseed performance and contribution of rapeseed to the sustainability of production systems.
- Alternative practices meeting weeds, pests and diseases management challenges in a context of decreasing efficacy (resistances) and regulatory limitation of classical phytosanitary solutions.
- Tools, approaches, and methods to design and promote agroecological and climatic transitions in cropping systems including rapeseed.
This session will explore the physiological and ecophysiological impacts of and adaptive responses of Brassicaceae to abiotic stresses, including temperature, light, water, CO₂ concentration, pollutants, and nutritional (N, P, K, S) stresses, as well as their combinations (multiple stresses) in the context of climate change.
It will examine their effects, notably on plant vigor, stand establishment, nutrient use efficiencies, and seed quality (including nutritional and physiological traits such as germination capacity), with particular attention to rapeseed–legume mixtures. The session will also address plant adaptation strategies, in particular those based on plant-soil-microbiota interactions, including rhizodeposition processes, root system architecture, and responses to biostimulants.
Contributions using experimental approaches in physiology and ecophysiology are welcome, including phenotyping methods and diagnostic tools, as well as modeling approaches (including FSPM and metamodeling).
The economy and markets session aims to a wide understanding of the situation of rapeseed canola sector at present and in medium and long-term future, in the context of the global oil and protein complex meeting the evolutions of demand (food, feed, energy, non-food-non-feed) under pressure of demography and climate change.
Proposed communications may concern all aspects of rapeseed/canola economy from farm to end uses, as well as adaptation strategies and policies, at macro, meso and micro scales.
Keywords: Consumption and demand; Production competitiveness; Value chains, supply chains; Markets and trade; Future studies; Climate change; Public policies; Investment’s strategies.
The sessions dedicated to products and quality will address issues regarding canola seed components, innovative processes and uses, including food, feed or biofuel and biochemistry. The main topics could encompass:
- Seed and meal quality components (oil, proteins, glucosinolates, fibers, minor compounds): impact of genotypic and environmental factors, comparison with soybean, development of specific markets.
- Oil and protein valorization in food.
- Feed: usual and new feed uses of rapeseed products.
- Factories of the future: innovative processing, analyses, and end products (seed dehulling, innovative seed processing with or without solvant, functionnalities), modelling.
- Brassicas for biofuel and for decarbonization ( napus and other brassicas as resources for diversifying the supply of biofuels; Biofuels: policies, markets, focus on Europe).
For all topics, authors are encouraged to develop the present and potential roles of artificial intelligence, when relevant.
