Knowledge for organic

ClieNFarms set up 19 Innovative System Solution Spaces (I3S), i.e., living labs, to test, evaluate and demonstrate solutions toreach climate-neutral farms;

Climate Farm Demo will set up a network of 1500 pilot farms in Europe and associated countries to increase and speed-up the adoption of climate smart farming practices;

DARWIN will address the scientific and regulatory challenges posed by so-called “New Genomic Techniques”, or NGTs, that allow for the creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are difficult or imposssible to detect using current methods. The project will develop, test, and validate a number of new scientific GMO detection methods and will engage a diverse group of stakeholders, including policymakers, throughout the project to develop policy recommendations that contribute to a healty, fair, safe and transparent food system.

ECO-Ready will explore future climate scenarios for different regions of Europe. These scenarios will be modelled to make predictions of how key crops and other agricultural products/sectors may be affected. The project will go beyond just modelling by identifying and testing interventions and resilience strategies in 10 Living Labs covering Europe’s different climatic zones. Finally, ECO-READY will develop a web/mobile-based platform providing up-to-date information on climate issues for society, policymakers, businesses, farmers, and consumers;

EU-FarmBook will support agricultural knowledge exchange by developing and maintaining an easily accessible EU-wide digital platform for practitioners in agriculture, forestry, and other rural sectors;

InterCropValuES  aims to exploit the benefits of intercropping. It will create a better understanding of the functioning of intercropping systems and make a detailed analysis of lock-ins and levers for intercropping at the value chain level. It will identify credible solutions that can be adopted by farmers and value chain actors.

IPMWorks has built a European farm network to demonstrate integrated pest management (IPM) strategies and to promote the adoption of such strategies via knowledge exchange;

LIVESEEDING will contribute to the upscaling of diversified organic seed production and strengthen the organic seed sector, informed by market demands;

OrganicClimateNET supports the capacity of organic farms to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change while considering the co-benefits to biodiversity, water, soil, and air. It aims to establish a pilot network of 250 organic farms across 12 EU countries to test, improve, and implement climate and carbon farming practices.

OrganicYieldsUP addresses the ‘yield gap’ between crops grown using organic practices versus those grown in more intensive, high-input systems. Project partners will develop a database capable of storing diverse crop yields data in a coherent way and gather the existing data from scientific studies and existing databases. The analysis of this new ‘mega-dataset’ will identify the major and minor yield gaps as well as strategies for increasing yields. To apply this knowledge, the project will form multi-stakeholder peer groups in each European macro-region. Workshops with practitioners, visits to ‘lighthouse farms’, and cross-visits of the groups across regions will allow for rapid knowledge exchange and co-design of strategies for yield improvements and resilience, including under different modelled climate scenarios.

OrganicTargets4EU supports the Farm to Fork strategy in achieving the targets of 25% organic agricultural land and a significant increase of organic aquaculture by 2030. The project assesses the drivers and lock-ins affecting the development of the organic sector to propose consistent scenarios to achieving the targets;

SchoolFood4Change will provide innovative solutions and tailored, locally adaptable good practices for schools, school meal providers, public authorities, and policymakers, in line with the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy;

SOILL-Startup will help to realise a core goal of the EU Soil Mission to create 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses – multi-stakeholder experimental testbeds and exemplary farms or other soil-related operations – by 2030. These Living Labs and Lighthouses will promote sustainable land and soil management in both rural and urban areas. SOILL-Startup is the first in a series of three planned projects running from 2024-2030 under the larger SOILL Frame Partnership Agreement.

BIOFRUITNET strengthened the competitiveness of European organic fruit production through strong knowledge networks;

EURAKNOS enhanced the EU’s agricultural knowledge base by co-creating “the network to connect all Thematic Networks” (2019-2021);

EUREKA built a European knowledge repository for best agricultural practices, as well as boosted knowledge interaction and connectivity between different knowledge reservoirs and existing initiatives;

FoodShift2030 ended in December 2023 and it succeeded in launching an ambitious, citizen-driven transition of Europe’s food system to a low carbon, circular future;

FutureEUAqua promoted sustainable growth of environmentally friendly organic and conventional aquaculture of both major fish species and low trophic level organisms resilient to climate change;

Internet of Food & Farm 2020 was a large-scale pilot under Horizon 2020 investigating and fostering large-scale implementation of the Internet of Things in European food and farming (2017-2021);

LIVESEED improved transparency and competitiveness of organic seed and plant breeding and encourage greater use of organic seed;

NEFERTITI established 10 interactive thematic networks, connecting 45 regional clusters of demo-farmers and related actors in 17 countries;  

OK-Net Arable (“Organic Knowledge Network Arable”) promoted the exchange of knowledge among farmers, farm advisers and scientists to increase productivity and quality in organic arable cropping in Europe (2015-2018);

OK-Net EcoFeed helped farmers, breeders and the organic feed processing industry achieve 100% use of organic and regional feed for monogastrics (pigs, broilers, laying hens and parents of broilers and laying hens) (2018-2021);

Organic Data Network aimed to increase the transparency of the European organic food market through better availability of market intelligence about the sector (2012-2014);

RELACS developed and facilitated tools and technologies to phase out dependency on and use of inputs considered contentious in organic farming systems;

REMIX exploited the benefits of species mixtures to design more diversified and resilient agroecological arable cropping systems (2017-2021);

SmartAgriHubs promoted the digitisation of European agriculture by fostering an agricultural innovation ecosystem dedicated to excellence, sustainability and success;

SOLMACC “Strategies for organic and low-input farming to mitigate and adapt to climate change” demonstrated that farming can be climate-friendly. Practicioners applied a combination of optimised organic farming practices to respond to climate change (2013-2018);

STOAS – Sustainability Training for Organic Advisors (2012-2013);

XF-actors answered the urgent need to improve prevention, early detection and control of Xylella fastidiosa disease (2016-2021);

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.