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Crop Protection Strategies for the Transition to Environmentally-Friendly Agriculture

Project description

Sustainable solution for crop protection against pests

The removal of harmful pesticides from the EU market is vital to prevent environmental damage, but it’s also making it difficult to protect crops. In this context, the EU-funded CROPSAFE project identified three key crops at risk from pests: potatoes threatened by potato cyst nematode, tomatoes facing losses of up to 65 % from root knot nematode and bananas affected by the emergence of banana weevils. However, the approval process for new management tools is lengthy. The project aims to develop a sustainable solution for pest management. It will advance tools incorporating bioactives, delivery materials, formulations and decision-support models. Specifically, CROPSAFE will use bio-based residues like aquatic biomass and spent coffee grounds, in collaboration with three biorefining partners, to identify effective solutions to pest management.

Objective

The withdrawal of the most harmful pesticides from the EU market is necessary to mitigate major environmental harm, but is leaving many farmers in a desperate position.

CROP-SAFE has identified 3 critical cases of food crops under threat from rapidly spreading pests, whilst go-to pesticides are identified by ECHA as candidates for imminent withdrawal, i.e. Candidates for Substitution (CfS) and Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).

1. Potato crops, widely threatened by Potato cyst nematode (PCN). The approval period for the leading active against PCN, Fosthiazate (CfS), expires in 2027.

2. Tomato crops, suffering from losses up to 65% due to Root knot nematode (RKN). The approval period for Metham sodium (CfS, SVHV), one of the most widely uses actives against RKN, expires in 2025.

3. Banana crops, suffering from the European emergence of Banana Weevils (BW). Growers are using Lambda-cyhalothrin (CfS, SVHC) to manage BW, but the approval period lapses in 2026.

CROP-SAFE will develop a holistic package of tools (bioactives, delivery materials, formulations and decision support models) for effective and sustainable management of PCN, RKN, and BW in these crops.

Using scalable supplies of bio-based residues (aquatic biomass, forestry residues, spent coffee grounds and fungal waste) and three biorefining partners, CROP-SAFE will down-select the most effective boiactives and delivery materials as a basis for new, SSbD crop protection products. Field trials will be supported by decision support models, overcoming challenges associated with the variable performance of bioactives in different environmental conditions.

The CROP-SAFE consortium combines the expertise of 3 Universities (UA, CNR, IQS-URL) and 4 RTOs (CPI, VITO, LEITAT, JHI) with material processing capacity in 3 biorefineries (BOR, ABA, KB) a leading developer of precision agriculture solutions, SE, and a cooperative, COPLACA, representing 3,200 farmers.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-JU-RIA - HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-CBE-2024

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Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 874 506,25
Address
CAMPUS DE SAN VICENTE RASPEIG
03690 Alicante
Spain

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Region
Este Comunitat Valenciana Alicante/Alacant
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 874 506,25

Participants (13)

Partners (1)

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