RhiSorgh4Health – HU-RIZON Project

Last modified: 06. February 2026

RhiSorgh4Health — A Sorghum microbiome project - from climate resilience to the One Health perspective

 
 

Project number: 2025-1.2.1-HU-RIZONT-2025-00110
Beneficiary: Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Subcontractors:

• University of Milan (UMIL), Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences
• Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV)

As a supporting partner, the National Chamber of Agriculture also assists in involving stakeholders and collecting domestic data.

Objectives:
The RhiSorg4Health project examines the rhizosphere microbiome of sorghum and its mycotoxin contamination. The aim of the research is to develop a sorghum-specific microbial consortium to improve plant health, increase stress tolerance, and maximise yield. In addition, it provides information on the contamination of crops with fungal toxins under different climatic conditions.

Focus area: Supporting the green transition of the economy and the development of a circular economy

Grant amount:                Grant rate:                             Project start date:                Project completion date:

HUF 352,211,628 100% February 1, 2026 January 31, 2029

 

Abstract:
Climate prediction models indicate that warmer summers, with periods of drought, will become more frequent in southern and central Europe. This will affect food and feed production, for which security must be ensured through the proper cultivation of arable land. In Hungary, the arable land is 5 million hectares, but only 2-5% of the area is irrigable. To mitigate the risk of crop loss and stabilise production, cultivating with techniques that retain soil moisture and using drought-tolerant cereal species could be a solution. These species could partially replace maize, one of the main crops cultivated on one million hectares and particularly vulnerable to drought. 

Sorghum is a promising option because it tolerates adverse climatic conditions, and yields can reach the average maize yield per hectare. Moreover, sorghum can be integrated into the current farming system, as it can be used for industrial purposes and grown with the same machinery as maize. Despite its growing popularity in Europe, the microbial background of sorghum cultivation remains overlooked, even though the plant microbiome is recognised as a promising tool for ensuring high yields and quality. 

RhiSorg4Health will investigate the rhizosphere microbiome of sorghum in three EU sorghum-producing countries (two Mediterranean and one continental) to improve the stability of good harvests and prepare for future aridity scenarios. Using omics and cultivation approaches, we aim to create a sorghum-specific microbial consortium to improve plant growth, resilience, and yield. Our research can lay the foundation for a tailored biofertilizer that can then be field-tested in a short timeframe and incorporated into product development. Beyond the beneficial microbiome, our goal is to explore the diversity of mycotoxin-producing fungi and the prevalence of mycotoxin contamination in sorghum, to establish the foundations for safer production.

The project is a collaborative effort among research teams in Hungary (MATE), Spain (UPV), and Italy (UMIL) and integrates microbiome profiling, mycotoxin surveillance, root colonisation, plant physiology, and crop quality studies.

Tasks to be implemented:
1.    Collecting and comparing information on the cultivation and farming of grain sorghum in Italy, Spain, and Hungary. Community DNA analysis of sorghum rhizosphere samples in all three countries, searching for correlations between the composition of the microbiome, the physical and chemical parameters of the soil, and the quantity and quality of the crop.
2.    Assessment of mycotoxin contamination threatening sorghum cultivation in all three countries. Isolation and identification of fungi causing mycotoxin contamination, and characterisation of the toxin-producing capacity of individual strains using molecular biological and analytical methods. Investigation of the applicability of non-toxic fungal strains as biocontrol agents under laboratory conditions.
3.    Isolation of plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria from arid sand steppes in Hungary. Testing the beneficial properties of PGP bacteria, exploring the short-term effects of promising bacterial strains on sorghum plant development, and examining their root colonisation abilities under laboratory conditions in a phytotron system.
4.    Small-scale pot experiments with the best PGP strains in Spain and Hungary, exploring the effect of bacterial treatment on the rhizosphere and endophytic microbial communities of sorghum, plant growth, and crop yield and quality.
5.    Organisation of a one-day workshop for local farmers and students on the importance of sorghum and the results of the project.