Project description
New knowledge and tools for intercrop management
A growing number of farmers are opting for intercropping practices, cultivating two or more crops on the same field at the same time. The approach is considered sustainable, eco-friendly and potentially economically sound. However, it is not without challenges. The EU-funded IntercropValueES project will design and develop intercropping systems that can be managed in ways that ensure productivity and profitability along the entire agrifood chain. Bringing together scientists, farmers and actors representing food value chains from 14 countries (on 3 continents) and from different organisations and stakeholders, the project will work on 13 co-innovation case studies. The aim is to design locally relevant and innovative agrifood chains. Project findings will be used to improve methods and tools for intercrop management.
Objective
IntercropValueES aims to exploit benefits of intercropping to design and manage productive, diversified, resilient, profitable, environmentally friendly cropping systems acceptable to farmers and actors in the agri-food chain. It will develop both a scientific research action for better understanding and modelling intimate intercrop functioning and a detailed analysis of lock-ins and levers at the value chain level to identify credible solutions that can be adopted by farmers and value chain actors. As a multi-disciplinary and multi-actor project, it brings together scientists and local actors representing food value chain. It includes 27 participants from 15 countries (3 continents) from a wide diversity of organizations and stakeholders. IntercropValuES organizes its activities in 6 objectives, to: 1) support the design of locally relevant, legitimate and innovative agri-food chains, through 13 Co-Innovation Case Studies; 2) understand the functioning and G*G*E*M interactions allowing the selection of compatible ideotypes and the optimization of machinery and management strategies for maximizing the productivity and delivery of ecosystem services with better soil health and mitigation of GHG (meta experiment 15 sites); 3) produce novel information, improved methods and tools for intercrop management and the assessment of their performance and profitability; 4) unravel intercropping performance by modelling; 5) analyze grain and sanitary quality of cereal-legume intercrops, functional qualities for food processing and new products, 6) uncover key barriers and levers at the value chain level to boost development, and identify new market avenues and solutions to increase economic added-value of intercrops. The Comms and Dissemination Plan is designed to diffuse outcomes widely by adapted channels to different end-users, such as farmers, advisors, food processing companies and machinery industries, retailers and citizens, academia, policymakers and influence bodies.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
75016 Paris
France
See on map
Participants (22)
31180 Zizur Mayor
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
6708 PB Wageningen
See on map
34125 Kassel
See on map
75011 Paris
See on map
00184 Roma
See on map
00200 Maputo
See on map
31610 Navarra
See on map
546 36 THESSALONIKI
See on map
1348 Louvain La Neuve
See on map
750 07 Uppsala
See on map
531 98 LIDKOPING
See on map
4000 Roskilde
See on map
3000 Leuven
See on map
53113 Bonn
See on map
1180 Wien
See on map
21000 Novi Sad
See on map
97490 SAINTE CLOTILDE
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
75007 Paris
See on map
Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
91120 Palaiseau
See on map
Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.
31326 Castanet Tolosan Cedex
See on map
50018 Scandicci Fi
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
4930 Maribo
See on map
Partners (4)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
100193 BEIJING
See on map
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
5070 Frick
See on map
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
EH28 8NZ Newbridge Midlothian
See on map
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
EH9 3JG Edinburgh
See on map