Citizen chickpeas

The European Unions biggest citizen science prize for an initiative with the most impact in advancing a sustainable society in Europe has been awarded and it goes to legumes. The EU Prize for Citizen Sciencefunded by Horizon Europe, is given to projects in which the general public is engaged in scientific research. This year, the Grand Prize, worth about $64,000, was won by INCREASE, a project focused on omics, conservation, multiplication and sharing of legume diversity, particularly for varieties from rural areas.

An independent jury of five experts assessed 288 applications from 49 countries. Two of the three prizes went to projects calling on citizen scientists to get involved in biotechnology projects. The Grand Prize was awarded to INCREASE (Intelligent Collections of Food Legumes Genetic Resources for European Agrofood Systems), a citizen science experiment that focuses on characterizing and promoting the genetic diversity of legumes such as chickpea, common bean, lentil and lupine to improve global food security. To participate, citizens only need access to a field, garden, terrace or balcony.

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