Improving grain legume seeds for future climates

It is predicted that crop quality will decline due to climate change through reduced nutritional value. This can be partially achieved through more intensive use of fertilisers. Nitrogen fertilisers can improve the quality of crops however, they can cause significant pollution in soil, air and water. Novel strategies to improve grain quality with minimal fertilisers are urgently required. This project aims to identify new ways of breeding grain legumes for future climate conditions by revealing mechanisms and markers of grain nutritional quality under elevated carbon dioxide and temperatures. Focussing on chickpea, this project will improve beneficial interactions with soil bacteria that significantly reduce the need for nitrogen fertilisers by fixing atmospheric nitrogen gas into a form usable by plants. The outcomes of our research will be used by the Agriculture sector through imp