Wheat (Triticum aestivum) stands out as one of the most vital crops for global food sovereignty and economic stability. A staple food for billions, it provides a significant portion of daily caloric intake worldwide.

However, instability due to environmental resources and changes in the regimes of rain on productive areas pressure wheat farming systems across the globe. Furthermore, most of the wheat is farmed under heavily industrial agricultural practices where wheat farming faces mounting challenges that threaten its long-term sustainability. These environmental and economic pressures compromise the stability of global wheat supply chains and undermine the resilience of farming communities. There is a need for research on agroecological methods and plant health strategies to support the resilience of wheat farming systems to overcome such challenges.

The agroecological transition and its practices offers a promising pathway toward more sustainable wheat production. Agroecology integrates ecological principles into agricultural practices, promoting biodiversity, soil health, and resource efficiency. It emphasizes local knowledge, diversified cropping systems, and reduced reliance on synthetic inputs, fostering resilient farming landscapes.

In the last 30 years, the use of dynamized high dilutions (DHDs) in agriculture has gained recognition as an agroecological method, particularly in Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, India, Pakistan, Serbia, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. The method focuses on using organic low-residual impact biostimulants by applying salutogenic (health promotion strategies) and a systemic approach to the agroecosystems. It focuses on treating the crop system, biostimulating plants’ natural resilience and morphophysiological development processes, supporting the plants` vitality in the face of environmental stressors.

However, despite the positive results reported in the scientific literature, this field of research is still at its dawn and needs robust studies to comprehensively assess the possibilities and limitations of using DHDs in agriculture and in specially, studies testing DHDs in wheat plants assessing biostimulation effects on plant resilience and development.

Therefore, the objective of the TERRA Project is to develop agronomical trials to test the effects of DHDs as an agroecological method to support wheat plants subjected to hydric stress.

Project objectives

To review the updated scientific literature on the agroecological research and the use of DHDs in wheat farming systems.
To set-up and execute agronomical experiments testing DHDs in greenhouse environment, assessing biostimulation effects on wheat plants submitted to water stress, measuring crop production and morphophysiological development; To assess the possible effects of the DHDs in the nutrient content of the plant tissue.
To assess the impact of DHDs on the quality and nutrient content of the flour produced from wheat plants treated with DHDs.
To measure the biological activity on the soil cultivated with wheat plants treated with DHDs.
To identify and select DHDs to be tested in field conditions.

Impact statement

This project will advance the scientific knowledge on the use of organic low-residual impact biostimulants, specifically concerning the use of dynamized high dilutions (DHDs) as an agroecological farming technology.

The project will benefit farmers and growers in the UK and worldwide who want to apply systemic thinking, ecological methods, and health-promoting strategies to wheat production. Particularly, it has the potential to reduce the environmental footprint of wheat farming systems while reducing the reliance on costly inputs, thereby impacting the crop agroeconomics.

Notably, the TERRA Project develops multidisciplinary research, catalysing collaboration of agronomists, biologists, veterinarians, physicists, statisticians, social scientists and physicians. Therefore, the impact of the project will resonate across disciplines, potentially supporting broad communities of practice.

Outputs

An open access high-quality publication on peer-reviewed scientific journal on the field of agroecology and sustainable farming systems.

Research Seminars (online and in person).

Research impact and knowledge dissemination through update posts across institutional networks, social media and newsletters.