The EURISCO-EVA Information System, an innovative approach to the data management of multi-site crop evaluation data
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Abstract
This paper introduces EURISCO-EVA, an extension of the European Search Catalogue for Plant Genetic Resources (EURISCO) hosted at and maintained by IPK Gatersleben on behalf of the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR). This information system facilitates standardized data collection, sharing and analysis for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) characterization and evaluation. In the framework of the European Evaluation Network (EVA), public–private partnerships aiming at the evaluation of crop accessions conserved in European genebanks, EURISCO-EVA provides a standardized data repository for multi-site evaluations of different crops. Through centralizing metadata maintenance, EURISCO-EVA ensures uniformity in trait definitions, experimental designs and passport data, promoting the efficient exchange of observed phenotypic data. EURISCO-EVA currently stores more than half a million phenotypic data points for 4,845 PGRFA accessions from 6 genera and 17 species, collected through 382 phenotypic experiments conducted at 115 experimental locations across 33 countries, involving 89 project partners. This platform offers a user-friendly web interface, empowering users with features such as map-based filtering of trial locations, statistical overviews and customizable reports. EURISCO-EVA’s robust administrative functionalities, coupled with standardization efforts, enhance data quality and harmonization, providing a robust and scalable system for storage of and access to crop evaluation data that could be further enhanced by adding analysis modules. EURISCO-EVA also formed the basis for the data management of two research projects (AGENT and INCREASE) under the EU Horizon 2020 funding programme, providing the background organization of complex datasets used to address future challenges in European agriculture.
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