ERC Starting Grant to explore orphan crop potential

Lucie Mahaut will simultaneously study hundreds of cultivated species using ecology-specific comparative approaches. Her goal is to identify species that are better adapted to future climatic conditions and that possess functional traits of interest for European agricultural systems. The broadscale breeding of cash crops (e.g., wheat, maize, rice) has allowed yields to soar but has also resulted in the homogenisation of global agriculture, research efforts, and crop breeding. Indeed, the world is home to hundreds of cultivated species, a source of poorly characterised wealth. There is currently no universally-accepted global inventory of the plants. These neglected and underutilised species, known as orphan crops, have captured the attention of Lucie Mahaut, an INRAE researcher. With her research project, OrphanCrops, she will explore the hypothesis that, subject to less selection, orphan crops retained greater phenotypic heterogeneity and possess unique combinations of traits. They could therefore functionally revitalise agroecosystems, improving the latter’s robustness. The stakes are high given that climate change is having devastating effects on cash crops. However, some crops are doing better than others. For example, sorghum has been less affected than maize because it needs less water and is better adapted to new climatic conditions.

What is the definition of an orphan crop? "While the term is frequently used, there is no objective or quantitative definition of an orphan crop," remarks Lucie Mahaut. For instance, a species considered to be an orphan crop in Western countries might be commonly grown by populations elsewhere in the world. Such is the case for fonio and teff, well-known crops in countries in southern Africa that have received little attention from Western researchers. 

During her project, Lucie Mahaut will explore this issue by creating a quantitative index of research intensity, based on an automated analysis of the scientific literature. Index values will express how well studied a species is, with extensively researched cash crops or major crops on one end and poorly researched species on the other end; the latter may be more recognisable (e.g., camelina, fonio, Bambara groundnut) or more obscure, such as certain chenopods. The index will be used to preliminarily identify lesser known species that hold research promise.

Exploration at different scales 

Once lesser known species have been identified based on their index values, Lucie Mahaut will explore the plants’ potential at three scales, using a global database of functional traits, models of regional agroecological niches, and field-level experimentation.

At the global scale, she will utilise two tools: the index values and a database containing information on the functional traits of several hundred cultivated species. These traits are biological characteristics, such as plant water and nutrient usage, growth patterns, and responses to environmental conditions. By allowing trait comparisons, the database is the first tool of its kind for examining orphan crops and cash crops simultaneously. This approach focuses on the plants' "biological characteristics rather than on their economic importance or taxonomic history".

Extending beyond agricultural contexts, such comparisons represent an opportunity to, as Lucie Mahaut emphasises, "bring ecology and the agricultural sciences closer together" or maybe even question certain ecological theories. "Do cultivated species have the same functional traits and levels of functional diversity as non-cultivated species? If the answer is no, it would invite us to revisit certain ecological theories and concepts," she comments. 

Next, Lucie Mahaut will study the climatic, pedologic (soil-related), and socioeconomic conditions under which the species could be grown, to determine which plants are best adapted to future agroecological conditions in Europe. This work is at the heart of her research and was developed during a previous study looking at the gap between the global distribution of major crops and their optimal climatic conditions, for which she received a Young Researcher Award from the French Society for Ecology and Evolution (SFE) in 2023. "From among the crops best adapted to future climatic conditions, I will predict which species would be the most likely to possess functional traits of interest for European agricultural systems. To this end, I will employ a metric that is relatively uncommon in agroecology, namely functional marginality or distinctiveness," explains Lucie Mahaut. It is possible to quantify functional distinctiveness, species by species, relative to established crops.

Finally, a group of 30 orphan crops, comprising cereals, legumes, and oilseeds, will be used in field experiments, with a view to understanding why certain species can better cope with water or nutritional stress. The species will be chosen based on several combined criteria, namely the amount of available information, compatibility with the climatic niche of the target region, and the effective availability of seeds.

"What is quite novel about this project is our approach. Instead of conventionally carrying out species-by-species comparisons, we will simultaneously study hundreds of crop species by employing biodiversity-specific techniques and by utilising AI during data collection and analysis,” clarifies Lucie Mahaut. In other words, instead of examining individual cases one by one, the analysis framework will be applied to hundreds of species at the same time. She underscores that the goal is not to "find an interesting new crop species", but rather to build a reproducible method for comparing and ranking all available cultivated species. 

Open-access resources to promote research and variety selection efforts 

To successfully complete the project, Lucie Mahaut will build and direct a dedicated research team, which will include specialists in agrobiodiversity, data science, plant physiology, and evolutionary biology. 

"I expect that this work will have fundamental and very concrete research impacts for the future of agriculture,” states Lucie Mahaut. She will espouse FAIR principles with regards to the trait database, a tool that can be directly exploited by other teams, without the need to be recreated. Consequently, the database may be extremely helpful to a range of researchers as well as to plant breeders and technical institutes.

Over the longer term, Lucie Mahaut hopes to compile scientific criteria that will facilitate the identification of species that could be introduced into or developed as part of more diverse lower-input agricultural systems. 

"This work could help tackle several challenges at once: adapting to climate change, reducing input dependence, promoting yield robustness, increasing crop diversity, and improving food and nutritional security," she notes.

The idea is not to replace cash crops, but rather to "expand the portfolio of available species and better select those that could complement existing crops". Lucie Mahaut feels the potential shift in perspective could have long-lasting consequences: "certain currently neglected species could help boost the future of farming in a significant way." 

European Research Council

The ERC funds exploratory research projects based solely on scientific excellence. The council supports ambitious research with a high potential for generating innovations, discoveries, and solutions for major scientific and societal challenges.

MINI-CV

Professional background

- 2025 to present: Tenured researcher at INRAE, Centre for Functional Ecology and Evolution (CEFE), Montpellier

- 2024: Post-doctoral researcher, University of Bern, Institute of Plant Sciences (Switzerland)

- 2022–2023: Post-doctoral researcher, Centre for the Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity (CESAB), Foundation for Research on Biodiversity, Montpellier

- 2019–2021: Post-doctoral researcher, University of Montpellier/CEFE

- 2018–2019: Contractual educator and researcher, University of Montpellier

Degrees

- 2018: PhD in ecology, Joint Research Unit for Agroecology, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté (thesis advisor: Sabrina Gaba)

- 2014: Master’s degree in human-modified ecosystems, University of Montpellier

Awards

- 2023: Young Researcher Award (for post-docs) from the French Society for Ecology and Evolution (SFE)

Leadership

- 2025–2027: Head of DOMEST'IA project (domestication and knowledge in relation to cultivated species), EXPLOR'AE programme 

- 2023–2025: Joint head (with C. Violle) of the international consortium Functional Rarity in Ecology & Evolution (FREE2)