About EVA

The ECPGR EVA network was established in 2019 to bring together diverse stakeholders of plant genetic resource for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in Europe, jointly improving our knowledge of the diversity of genetic plant material held in European genebanks and making them accessible for use in breeding and research. EVA is of strategic importance for Europe and provides an opportunity to promote the sustainable use of PGRFA to facilitate the adaptation of European agriculture to climate change and to contribute towards achieving related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Inter alia, EVA aims to:

1. Promote the establishment of European Private Public Partnerships to carry out targeted evaluation of PGRFA
2. Promote and improve the digitization, harmonization, availability and exchange of existing and newly generated evaluation data of PGRFA
3. Improve the evaluation of PGRFA through coordinated and collaborative efforts, using harmonized methods and standard protocols and the development of best practices, guidelines and tools

In collaborative projects involving public and private sector partners and through participatory plant breeding actions EVA is generating standardized evaluation data (both phenotypic and genotypic data) for numerous crop accessions and landraces available in European genebanks. Currently, EVA is implemented through six crop-specific networks, covering both cereal and vegetable crops. A new network on perennial plants (fruit trees and berries) is in preparation.

All activities within the EVA networks are intended at the pre-competitive stage, to increase our knowledge about valuable traits of publicly available crop germplasm, with a view to introducing these into public and private breeding programmes. Evaluation data from different environments across the continent will also aid in identifying adapted accessions for breeding climate-resilient crops.

For more information or if you are interested in joining the EVA networks, please contact EVA coordinator Sandra Goritschnig
 

During the 2018 ECPGR Steering Committee meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece, the framework for the establishment of a European Evaluation Network was approved, launching the implementation of the EVA projects.

• Establishment of the European PGRFA Evaluation Network (EVA) 

A Memorandum of Understanding for enhanced collaboration between the European Seed Association (ESA - now EUROSEEDS ) and ECPGR was also agreed for signature. In this MoU, Euroseeds and ECPGR agree to use their networks in a beneficial collaboration to promote the evaluation of PGR across Europe, supporting the European Evaluation Networks.

• Memorandum of Understanding for an enhanced cooperation between ECPGR and the European Seed Association (ESA - now EUROSEEDS). (2,8 MB)

During the 2023 End-of-phase meeting of the ECPGR Steering Committee in Oeiras, Portugal, the EVA approach was incorporated into the regular ECPGR work programme as a priority action. As such, project coordination and support for data management within the project database EURISCO-EVA are guaranteed, allowing EVA networks to continue their operations based mainly on in-kind contributions towards activities.

Following up on the establishment of the European PGRFA Evaluation Network EVA by the Steering Committee, the ECPGR Secretariat submitted a successful proposal to Germany for funding of a project to kick-start the EVA networks on wheat and barley and vegetables (carrot, lettuce and pepper) for three years (2019-2022), which has been extended until the end of 2027 with additional funding (see below).

For field crops (wheat, barley) a different batch of European genebank accessions are multiplied each year and then evaluated in multiple locations for disease resistance and other traits. Vegetable networks work on defined sets of accessions, for which extensive data on agronomical, biotic and abiotic stress traits are collected. All accessions will be genotyped. All data will be provided to EURISCO and made widely available after an embargo period, to incentivize the collaboration of private breeders.

• Project - Implementation of the ECPGR European Evaluation Network (EVA) on wheat/barley and vegetable crops (carrot, lettuce and pepper) (658,7 KB)

Right from the project's start in July 2019, several private breeding companies and public research institutions have agreed to participate in the crop-specific networks, but additional partners are welcome. Find all organizations participating in EVA on the various network pages.

In December 2019, during the first meeting of the newly established ECPGR Maize Working Group, a proposal for an extension of the project to include a crop-specific network for Maize was prepared and subsequently granted by the donor. This extension enabled the newly formed Working Group on Maize to add value to European maize genetic resources within an appropriate framework of public/private partnerships, with the adoption of common standards, use of EURISCO and strengthening of the AEGIS collection. In practice, during the project duration, a total of 600 European genebank accessions of maize will be genotyped and evaluated for biotic and abiotic stresses in multilocation experiments. 

• Project - Implementation of the ECPGR European Evaluation Network (EVA) on wheat/barley and vegetable crops (carrot, lettuce and pepper)” with the addition of a Maize component and improved access to existing barley, wheat and maize evaluation data  (292,0 KB)

A no-cost extension to compensate for delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as recent amendments providing additional funds for in-depth data analysis, coordination and communication on the project allows the project to run until December 2024, producing tangible results that can be exploited by public and private partners in breeding and scientific publications.  

• Request for additional budget and extension of the project “Implementation of the ECPGR European Evaluation Network (EVA) on wheat/barley and vegetable crops (carrot, lettuce and pepper)”  (182,0 KB)

In 2023, additional budget was approved for previously unplanned activities and to support data management, allowing the networks to effectively use the longer project duration. This request also included funds to organize a project meeting of ForEVA to establish a new EVA Legumes network, enhancing the impact of the current project.

• Request for additional budget for the project 'Implementation of the ECPGR European Evaluation Network (EVA) on wheat/barley and vegetable crops (carrot, lettuce and pepper)' GenR 2019-2 (September 2023)

In 2023, the ECPGR Grain Legumes Working Group started a project ‘Fostering the need for implementation of the ECPGR European Evaluation Network (EVA) on grain legume (ForEVA)’, which brought together 21 genebank partners from the Working Group and more than 30 stakeholders from the public and private sector to develop a new EVA network for legumes. During an in-person meeting in Bucharest on 11-12 October 2023, the partners agreed to establish an EVA Legumes network comprising seven different crop groups (bean, chickpea, fava bean, Lathyrus, lentil, lupine, pea) and a survey on the capacity to provide, regenerate or evaluate genetic resources received feedback from more than 50 partners. Starting in 2024, the crop groups have been developing work plans and funding proposals for the implementation of the EVA Legumes network.

Two other ECPGR grant scheme proposals submitted by the Maize and Solanaceae Working Groups were funded during the first call in Phase XI and will combine Working Group activities, supporting also the EVA Maize and Pepper networks, respectively, with additional genebank partners and new collections for evaluation. The Maize project MALANIRS  will use a combination of genomics and phenomics to develop a model for predicting specific traits from genebank materials using Near Infrared spectra (NIRs). The Solanaceae Working Group activity EuroPepLand will implement a trans-European pepper landrace collection for resilient agriculture.

In 2024, a new funding proposal to the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture was approved for the implementation of the EVA Legumes network and activities towards the establishment of a new network on perennials (fruit trees and berries):

• Implementation of the ECPGR European Evaluation Network (EVA) on legumes and preparatory actions for the creation of a new network on perennial plants (berries and fruit trees) – EVA Boost (276,6 KB)

The ECPGR EVA currently comprises six crop-specific networks for cereals and vegetables: 

• EVA Carrot
• EVA Legumes
• EVA Lettuce
• EVA Maize
• EVA Pepper
• EVA Wheat and Barley

New EVA networks are being considered and can be developed through ECPGR Grant Scheme activities.