Achir NawelInstitut Agro MontpellierDépartement SABP - Pôle Tropiques et Méditerranée - Montpellier FranceUMR Qualisud - Montpellier cedex 5 Abderrahmane AIT HAMOUCactus Premium sarl Morocco Angeletti Francesco G. S. Council for Agricultural Research and Economics - Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops - ItalyORCIDgraduated in Sciences and Technologies of Animal Productions at the University of Pisa where he also attained a PhD in Veterinary Science by studying the hybrid barley-field bean intercropping for forage and grain production in Mediterranean environment. Currently, he is a post-doc researcher at CREA-CI. Bouzoumita GhofranInstitut Agro MontpellierDépartement SABP - Pôle Tropiques et Méditerranée - Montpellier France Campana Daniela Cristina Università del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” (UPO), Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT)-Alessandria, ItalyPhD student,obtained her master’s degree in Biological Sciences at Università del Piemonte Orientale on 2018 (100/110). On 2021 she obtained her bachelor’s degree cum laude in “Biology” and started her PhD degree in “Chemistry and Biology” at Università del Piemonte Orientale. Fort Fathia Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs (MOISA), L'institut Agro, Montpellier SupAgro, FranceORCIDBelongs to the MOISA Joint Research Unit (CIRAD, INRA, CIHEAM, MOISA). She is Full Professor of economic and business focusing on food marketing, new product marketing, entrepreneurship, and management in food sector. Her main research activities relate to sustainable food consumption, territorial marketing linked with traditional local food and innovation adoption processes in small medium enterprises related to sustainable development and governance of public incubators and local development. Gianinazzi SilvioFrench National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), Paris, France LabidiSonia Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie (INAT) TunisiaORCIDAssistant professor at INAT. She i s specialized in forage crops and their root symbiosis, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. She works on the response of plant species (field crops) and the telluric microorganisms of their rhizosphere to mycorhizal inoculation and organic amendments in semi arid and arid regions. She has a PhD in Agricultural Sciences, a Master in Agronomy and Plant Production, a Diploma of engineer in Sciences of Plant Production. She has been (1) Responsible of the component "collection, characterization, propagatio n and conservation of indigenous root symbionts" of the project: Characterization, mapping and optimization of root micro symbionts (mycorrhiza / Rhizobium) in field crops of northern Tunisia (BioMyRhiz); (2) Member of the project: Valorization of natural resources in mountain areas and improvement of small farmer's livelihood (PeZom); (3) of the Federated Nitrates projectand federated project Lupinsubstituting soy. She is Member of Horticultural Sciences Laboratory in the research project: Symbiosis rhizo mycorrhizal and Phytoremediation. LiguoriGiorgia Università degli Studi di Palermo (UPO), Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali - Palermo, ItalyORCIDResearcher at the SAAF, University of Palermo, Italy. She has a Ph.D in “ Orchard and fruit quality management ”. Her research interest includes Cactus pear physiology, fruit quality and production, plant and fruit physiology, sustainable orchard management; fruit postharvest quality, technology and management, minimal processing fruits and functional foods. She is the Agronomic Practices Coordinator of the Cactusnet FAO ICARDA, and teaches “Fruits Quality and Post harvest technology” at SAAF. He has published more than 70 research papers, book chapters and invited reviews on cactus pear, plant physiology, fruit quality and postharvest management. Lingua GuidoUniversità del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” (UPO), Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT)-Alessandria, ItalyORCIDPhD Environmental Sciences, associate professor of Botany at UPO. He is a PhD in Environmental Sciences. He has worked on plant-microbe interactions, with a special focus on the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting bacteria. He has been involved in several European and Italian projects and has been unit coordinator for national projects. He is a national academic habilitation (ASN) as full professor of Botany. He has been visiting professor at the University of Waterloo (ON, Canada) and an OECD Fellow at Montana Stata University (Bozeman, MT, USA). Massa Nadia Università del Piemonte Orientale - ItalyORCIDTechnician in the Biological Laboratories of the “Università del Piemonte Orientale”, Italy. She graduated cum laude in Biological Sciences at the “Università del Piemonte Orientale” and attained a PhD in "Environmental Science, internal waters and agroecosystems" at the same University. Her research has been focused in: i) effects induced by heavy metals on the wild vegetation of polluted sites and their associated AM fungi, with particular interest in hyperaccumulator plants to be used in remediation programs; ii) setting up of a number of biotest using model plants and AM fungal spores to evaluate the effect of different pollutants on vegetation and hence on living organisms; iii) evaluation of benefits due to AM symbiosis both in biotic (phytoplasmas, aphyds) and abiotic (salinity and heavy metals) stresses; iv) application of AM fungi and PGP bacteria for the improvement of fruit quality in crop plants. This research has required application of various methodologies such as: optical, fluorescence, confocal and electron microscopy, flow cytometry, molecular analyses and specific image analysis software as well as statistical ones. MessaoudiHicham PLANTAbiotekORCIDBiotechnology engineer, expert consultant, and associate researcher, possessing Mediterranean experience and know-how in industrialization of Mycorrhizal technology. He is co-founder of PLANTAbiotek, a start-up project in plant biotechnology and R&D supported by ANVREDET for the implementation of bio-input based on beneficial soil. Pacifico DanielaCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics - Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops - ItalyORCIDBiotechnologist and PhD in Agrobiotechnology. Research activity focuses on potato (biocompounds, circular economy, response to biotic stress, up-land and organic conditions) by molecular e and biochemical approaches. Involved in several national and international research projects, she also works in Communication & Dissemination strategies on cereal and industrial crops. Righetti LauraCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics - Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops - ItalyORCIDHolds a PhD in food and agricultural science, technology and biotechnology and is currently tenured Researcher at CREA-CI in Bologna. Her research focuses on plant response to stress and specialized metabolites, through molecular, biochemical, and analytical techniques. She works in the valorization of minor industrial crops, participating in projects about regenerative agriculture and circular economy. Saia SergioUniversity of Pisa (UNIPI), Dep artment of Veterinary Sciences Pisa - ItalyORCIDAssociate professor in Agronomy and Field Crops at U niversit y of P isa. The research activity of SS focuses on the stress responses of Mediterranean crops (durum wheat, other cereals, legumes, and vegetables), the role of intercrops and plant growth promoting microorganisms on plant growth, nutrient uptake and use efficiency under abiotic stress conditions, and conservation agriculture for both cover crop and reduced/no tillage studies. In addition, he also has experience about investigation of plant responses to stresses at gene expression and metabolomics level and model ling of soil properties. Terracciano IrmaCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics - Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops - ItalyORCIDHolds a PhD in Insect Science and Biotechnology and is currently tenured Researcher at CREA-CI (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics - Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops). Her research focuses on plant breeding approaches to improve plant defense to biotic stresses. Her main skills concern techniques of molecular biology, genetic engineering, genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics. Currently she is scientific officer for CREA of the following project: PRIMA Call 2020 “ProSmallAgriMed - Promoting soil fertility, yield and income in smallholder agriculture of semiarid and arid Mediterranean regions by management of beneficial soil microbiota, conservation agriculture and intercropping.