Drought in Europe this summer 2022 is already known to be the most severe in many years. Since 2020 the CPVO has been supporting independent academic research efforts focused on exploring the adaptation of European agriculture to drought and climate change. As a result of this collaboration, the paper "Obtenciones vegetales: análisis sobre la viabilidad de la inclusión de caracteres de tolerancia a la sequía en los exámenes DHE realizados al amparo del sistema de la UPOV" was published in 2021, authored by Dr. Juan Antonio Vives-Vallés from the Agri-Environmental and Water Economics Institute (Spain). It laid in turn the foundations for a research initiative focusing on analysing the possibility of promoting the adaptation of European agriculture to drought and climate change through the EU PVR system, and on the potential role of organic varieties in that endeavour. The proposal succeeded in securing funding from the OECD's Co-operative Research Programme: Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems (CRP) 2022, and it has been developed by Dr. Vives-Vallés at the CPVO premises this summer 2022.
