French Atlas of Soil Mushrooms: opening up new

avenues of research

In delivering its corporate patronage mission, the FDR

prioritises projects designed to improve our understanding

of soils. The approach adopted by INRAE (France’s National

Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment)

is of particular interest, because it addresses operational

issues such as the environmental assessment of land use

and the development of microbial quality indicators. The

most recent of its projects to receive support from the FDR

was the production and publication of the French Atlas

of Soil Mushrooms. Over a period of almost three years,

the researchers worked on describing the groups of fungi

observed, their spatial distribution, their ecological traits

and their interrelationships, at the same time as formalising

methodological information about the study of fungal

communities. Published in April 2024 by Éditions Biotope,

the atlas is unique both in terms of the subject it covers and

its original illustrations, which provide an insight into what

is an immense biological reservoir, but one that is often

overlooked. Also supported by ADEME (the French Agency

for Ecological Transition) and OFB (the French Off ice for

Biodiversity), the project has attracted considerable interest

from the scientif ic community. This level of interest was

clearly demonstrated by the presence of 200 delegates at

the symposium on French soil fungi hosted in April 2024 at

the French National Museum of Natural History.

Prune Passama,

Roullier Endowment

Fund Director

“We thought that conducting an in-depth

study of soils and the spreading technique

used by thousands of farmers throughout

the subcontinent would be a textbook

case for gaining a bet ter understanding

of local soil management.”

Created in 2019, The Roullier Endowment Fund

(FDR) focuses on a public interest mission to

research, promote and encourage sustainable

agriculture in France and internationally.

It acts as a channel of support for researchers and

farmers, at the same time as providing a space in

which to welcome, meet and discuss issues with

agricultural industry stakeholders. Two initiatives

indicative of these twin missions saw signif icant

developments in 2024.

Supporting projects

focused on

the development of

sustainable agriculture

Analysing the effects of sediment spreading

on arable f ields

In India, the FDR is supporting a scientif ic project that

sets out to understand and assess the age-old practice of

f ield-spreading the sediments that gather at the bottom

of rainwater storage reservoirs. With the increase in the

numbers of excavators and tractors on farms and the rollout

of public programmes to remove silt from these reservoirs,

this technique is enjoying a marked resurgence. But what

is the real impact of these sediments on soil function?

Where and how often are they used? Do they vary in

terms of chemical composition? Coordinated by Cécile

Gomez, a researcher at the IRD (Institute of Research for

Development), the Berambadi basin project is scheduled

to run until 2026, and should provide answers to all these

questions. The f irst step involves studying the spatial

distribution and frequency of spreading based on farmer

surveys and multispectral imaging. The scientists will then

work to characterise the soils in which the sediments are

applied in order to provide an overview of their physical-

chemical diversity, while determining the presence of

microplastics. Lastly, the risks and benef its of the practice

will be assessed on the basis of soil quality indicators.

Indian researchers and agricultural advisors will be closely

involved in this process, and will receive training in it at the

end of the project.

FOCUS ON THE ROULLIER ENDOWMENT FUND

Non-Financial Performance Statement 2024 43