LEGU-MED: Developing Biodiversity-Based Agriculture with Legume Cropping Systems in the Mediterranean Basin

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors The research that we intend to develop with this research project entitled "LEGU-MED: Developing biodiversity-based agriculture with legume cropping systems in the Mediterranean basin" is very interesting. There are numerous landraces of chickpea and especially lentil in the Mediterranean basin and also in Italy. However, about 70% of world production of chickpeas is made in India while about 80% of lentil production is made in 4 countries (Canada, India, Australia and Turkey). The revaluation of these legumes allows to the implementation of more rational and quality production systems in the perspective of a more sustainable and organic agriculture. Moreover, legumes, having an ancient genetic heritage and rich in peculiarities, also have a great potential for adaptation to environmental climate change. Relating to this concept paper by Martinelli f., et al., the objectives and questions posed in the project proposal are quite appropriate; the methodology that will be adopted to achieve the results seems adequate and I believe it is achievable within the timeframe of the project. I would only have some questions: a) to improve the presentation of Figures 1 and 2 and insert the denomination of the y-axis expressing the data in t x 000; b) to revise the numbering of the paragraphs. Finally, a curiosity: in WP1 the authors state that an agronomic, phenotypic and molecular characterization will be carried out on at least 125 genotypes of each of the legumes that are the subject of this study (chickpea and lentil). Where do they plan to source these materials?

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for the appreciation to our proposed article. We have modified the figs as you have suggested. We would like to maintain the ordering of the paragraph (if possible). Thank you again, best regards,

Federico Martinelli

Reviewer 2 Report

Biodiversity plays a very important role in ensuring the proper functioning of ecosystems, including agroecosystems. The progressive intensification of agriculture has led to a reduction in the genetic diversity of crops. In recent years, various ways have been promoted to increase biodiversity in agroecosystems, which is one of the elements of sustainable agriculture. One of the important elements is to increase the cultivation of legumes. Taking this into account, the subject of the manuscript should be considered interesting and important. But the peer-reviewed manuscript is not a review article or an original paper. The authors presented the assumptions of the project they are implementing. Therefore, I am not sure whether manuscript in its current form should be published in a reputable international journal. The project is being implemented for the second year. In a year, the authors will finish the project and will be able to present the results of this project. And such an article will be very interesting.

After reading the manuscript, I have a few minor comments

1. It is necessary to correct the numbering of chapters and subsections, e.g. line [181] is 1.2 should be 1.3; line [297] is 1.2. should be 1.4.; line [346], [445]
2. you need to correct the citations in the text, the years are given unnecessarily, in the following lines: [83, 86, 88, 89, 95, 314, 32]5,
3. Add units on the Y axis in figures 1 and 2. The captions under these graphs need to be corrected. Should be: Figure 1. Chickpea production from 1990 to 2015 (source FAOSTAT). Northern African countries: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia. Southern European countries: Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain. Similar for figure 2.
4. Line [98] - this sentence needs to be corrected
5. Line 155 – is (58) should be [58]
6. Line [336] – ard?

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for the interest and your positive response regarding with our concept paper. We have addressed all your suggestions for minor modifications.

Best regards,

Federico Martinelli

Reviewer 3 Report

Most comments are embedded in the manuscript. However, I have two major concerns/questions.

1. How is BBA different from Organic agriculture? Is meant to complement and or supplement it or to replace it?
2. You mention that biostimulants are an approach of BBA. It is also known that application of PGPR can disrupt the native soil microbial diversity (which plays a major role in native plant diversity), how do you reconcile these two, since biodiversity is a major component of BBA?
3. I feel that in your introduction, and entire text in general, BBA was not described well. I still do not have a good understanding of it, what it entails, etc.  A proper (somewhat detailed) description of all it is about would do this manuscript justice, help the reader understand the difference between BBA and organic agriculture and in general, make the paper so rich.  At the moment, information is scattered here and there, which makes it hard to follow and fully understand what BBA is all about.    

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

we have revised the manuscript based on your suggestions. BBA is considered to complement organic agriculture. Both types of agriculture are considered to be sustainable approaches although they are synonyms. PGPRs may eventually reduce the soil microbial community but are supposed  to do it in a beneficial way for the crops. We have added a new part in the introduction (see page 4, 5, and 6) and we have done some changes throughout the manuscript in order to address all your 3 major concerns.  Thanks for the positive response to our proposed article.

best regards,

Federico