Crop Cousins, promise for the future
COUSIN is the European Union-funded project on the use and conservation of wild species for more sustainable, resilient and nutritionally valuable agriculture
Discovering Crop Wild Relatives with COUSIN video scribing
Latest News
In Florence, a study day on conservation and use of plant genetic resources with a focus on Crop Wild Relatives
On February 25, Florence will host a study day entitled "Management and use of plant germplasm and microbial collections for the protection and economic enhancement of agrobiodiversity". Organized by the Southeast and Southwest sections of the Accademia dei...
Enhancing nutraceutical traits in Brassica oleracea L. for functional food production
On Jenuary 23th, the scientific journal CABI Agriculture and Bioscience published an article written by Gresheen Garcia, Donata Arena, Hajer Ben Ammar, Victor Manuel Rodriguez, Pablo Velasco, and Ferdinando Branca entitled "Enhancing nutraceutical traits...
Excursion to the Egadi Islands for the conservation of Brassica macrocarpa
Despite the bad weather that was raging in the rest of Sicily, the beautiful island of Favignana and its inhabitants welcomed with open arms the staff of Rete Semi Rurali, University of Catania, and Juan Carlos University of Madrid, all partners in the COUSIN...
CWRs, a promise for the future
Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) are often seen as the COUSINs of domesticated crops given their close kinship and their role as important sources of natural genetic variation. In this sense they represent a valuable resource for the urgently required agroecological transition. Such a transition results in more diverse, sustainable and nutritious food, in line with the EU Green Deal policy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, CWRs can be important allies. In fact, currently 75% of the world’s food is generated from only twelve plant species and since the 1900s, some 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers worldwide have left their diverse set of local varieties and landraces for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties. From this perspective, Crop Cousins are a promise for the future.
Cousin’s brochure contains the description and goals of the project. It is available in multiple languages, download the one you prefer and share it!

































