What are orphan crops in Spain?

Diversify crops, multiply possibilities. This is the vision of CROPDIVA, a scientific consortium in which the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) participates, which aims to relaunch the exploitation of six arable crops in European agriculture. These are oats, peeled barley, triticale, buckwheat, broad beans and lupine: species that have interesting agronomic and food traits, but are currently labeled as orphans. This adjective alludes to an increasingly marginal presence both in supermarkets and in the countryside, where wheat, rice and corn dominate. "There is a significant loss of biodiversity in the European rural landscape, and this seriously damages the balance of the environment," says Marta da Silva, head of the IRTA Sustainable Extensive Crops Program. Large cereal monocultures generate problems such as greater susceptibility to diseases and pests, the impoverishment of soils (and the consequent dependence on fertilizers) or the displacement of other ...