About the project

The DiversityOats project brings together the whole national value chain in oats in a coordinated effort to support the Norwegian oat production through collaborative research.

New genetic diversity will be incorporated, and targeted breeding efforts will be initiated to develop oat varieties with novel grain composition and food processing traits addressing the needs of the food industry. We will tailor processing technology for creating new oat ingredients and develop new oat-based food products including gluten-free oat bread and vegan dairy-replacement products with improved nutritional composition and quality. Furthermore, we will address fertilization practices for producing food-grade oats and lay the grounds for an annual prognosis system for oat grain quality that will enable industry actors to adapt their production to the seasonal quality variation.

The project will bring together the national expertise on plant genomics, plant pathology and agronomy and food processing technology at NMBU, NIBIO, and Nofima. The work will be done in close collaboration with key industry actors along the whole value chain from plant breeding (Graminor), seed companies and grain handling (Felleskjøpet Agri, Strand Unikorn, Fiskå Mølle) and agronomy (Yara) to milling and baking (Norgesmøllene), food processing (Tine) and retail industry (Norgesgruppen) who will take active part in dedicated research tasks. Overall, the project will increase the sustainability and profitability of the Norwegian oat industry.

Work packages:

• WP1: Project management (WP leader Morten Lillemo, NMBU)
• WP2: Broadening of the genetic base, genetic studies and new tools for future oat breeding (WP leader Morten Lillemo, NMBU)
• WP3: Tools for diversified oat products, from functional oat ingredients to new processing possibilities (WP leader: Anne Rieder, Nofima)
• WP4: Production of food-grade oats (WP leader: Ingerd Hofgaard, NIBIO)
• WP5: Engagement, dissemination and communication (WP leader: Amund Dønnum, Matkornpartnerskapet)

• Background

  Oats possess unique nutritional qualities and there is an increased interest of using oats in new and trendy food products. However, much of the product development has happened abroad at the expense of the Norwegian food industry. Moreover, the current oat varieties are lacking genetic diversity for traits that are needed for new food products and adaptation to new agronomic practices and predicted climate changes.

  The DiversityOats project aims to tackle these challenges by broadening the genetic base for future oat breeding, improving cultivation practices, and diversifying the portfolio of oat-based food products based on Norwegian oats.

• Objectives

  Main objective: To generate the knowledge and tools needed to support a more sustainable and profitable Norwegian oat production with increased genetic diversity and diversified food products.

  This will be achieved through the following secondary objectives:

  1. Broadening of the genetic base for future oat breeding by incorporation of new genetic diversity
  2. Unraveling the genetic basis of nutritional and grain composition traits and developing tools and technologies for more effective oat breeding
  3. Development of new functional oat ingredients and tailored food processing strategies for the production of diversified Norwegian oat products.
  4. Increased understanding of the influence of fertilization practice and weather conditions on plant health and grain quality
  5. Dissemination of project results through interaction with the whole value chain to achieve the overall aims of the project.
• Participants

  External participants

  Nofima:
  Anne Rieder, WP leader
  Simon Balance, senior researcher
  Tzvetelin Dessev, senior researcher

  NIBIO:
  Ingerd Hofgaard, WP leader
  Anne-Grete Roer Hjelkrem, Researcher
  Annbjørg Øverli Kristoffersen, Researcher
  Marit Almvik, Researcher

  Graminor:
  Muath Alsheikh, research director
  Espen Sørensen, oat breeder

  Other industry partners: Yara, Felleskjøpet Agri, Strand Unikorn, Fiskå Mølle, Norgesmøllene, Norgesgruppen, TINE, Matkornpartnerskapet

  International collaboration:
  Martin Mascher, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Germany
  Lidija Bitz and Oliver Bitz. Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Finland Leif Bülow, Lund University, Sweden