Varietal diversity: building on yesterday's varieties to meet tomorrow's challenges

The Mediterranean region has long been home to a rich diversity of perennial fruit crops, including grapes, citrus, olives, avocado and almonds. These crops face increasingchallenges as climate change accelerates, from rising temperatures and prolonged droughts to shifting pest and disease pressures. Addressing these challenges requires astrategic approach that leverages the genetic diversity of existing traditional varieties and the development of new resilient cultivars through breeding programs.Farmers are adjusting their practices to cope with the challenge, but many of these solutions remain confined to specific regions or agricultural sectors. The EU-fundedCLIMED-FRUIT project is working to bridge this gap by collecting and sharing innovative, climate-adaptive practices from various European agricultural groups to enhanceresilience and promote effective climate change adaptation and mitigation. This article presents a non-exhaustive list of experimental results from experiences carried out across Europe and identified in the framework of the CLIMED-FRUIT project.