Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Practices in horticulture can affect soil health and related ecosystem services at different points in the value chain, for example at production sites as well as further upstream. Within horticultural production systems, soils are often subjected to particularly intensive use, which can cause among others soil compaction, soil pollution (e.g. excess nutrients, pesticides or microplastics), and salinization as a consequence of intensive irrigation.
Peat is commonly used in nurseries, greenhouses and amateur horticulture as a growing medium and for soil improvement, as it has an excellent water retention capacity, is highly fertile due to the reduced leaching of nutrients and can improve the soil buffering capacity. The extraction of natural peat, however, is highly contentious as the disturbance of peatlands leads to habitat loss, soil degradation, CO2 emissions and increased flood risks. Therefore, sustainable alternatives to natural peat are required. While various peat-free or peat-reduced growing media have become more widely available in recent years, their performance with regard to environmental and other relevant criteria remains difficult to assess.
Detailed Call Description
Proposed activities should:
- Identify, develop and promote horticultural practices and production systems that conserve or improve soil health. This should include alternative materials to be used as sustainable substitutes for peat as substrate or soil improver in organic and conventional horticulture, with the aim of attenuating soil stress and strengthening ecosystem services.
- Demonstrate the feasibility and economic viability of the newly developed alternatives to the use of peat in horticulture. This should be done in accordance with relevant EU regulatory frameworks related to their placing on the market.
- Generate data to support improved environmental, social, health and safety performance of alternative growing media in a life-cycle perspective and taking into account potential trade-offs and indirect consequences, including outside of the EU, where relevant.
- Develop and/or improve sustainable management practices in horticulture (including digital technologies and infrastructures) to reduce the use of inputs such as plant protection products, fertilizers and water in horticultural crops. Measures should also contribute to improving soil structure and mitigating soil compaction. Where applicable, practices should cover both protected (greenhouses and tunnels) and open field systems.
- Identify and analyse barriers (economic, social or regulatory) that may hinder the uptake of the proposed soil-friendly practices by professional producers as well as by private consumers in amateur horticulture, and where relevant suggest suitable measures to overcome the identified obstacles.
- Develop and test material for awareness raising, dissemination and training to promote the uptake of soil-friendly horticultural practices. This material should be used by agricultural advisory services, in vocational training and other relevant contexts.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
70%
EU Contribution per project: €6.50 million
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Industry
- Land Development
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
Eligibility for Participation
- Farmers Unions
- Farmers, Agriculturalists
- Investment Funds
- Large Enterprises
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Producer Associations
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Semi-governmental organisations
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
- Training Centres
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In this topic the multi-actor approach has to be implemented by involving a wide range of stakeholders (e.g. industry including SMEs, public authorities, research centres, public and private investors, civil society) to co-create sustainable solutions and increase opportunities for them to be scaled up.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Person:
Myrto Anastasiadou
Scientific Officer
Email: manastassiadou@research.org.cy
(Publish Date: 22/02/2023-for internal use only)