Project description
Automating soil health monitoring
Healthy soil underpins food production and ecosystems, yet more than half of Europe’s soil is degraded. Monitoring soil biodiversity is vital. However, identifying tiny organisms such as nematodes is slow and prone to human error. The EIC-funded VERIDI project aims to establish an automated system to solve this problem. It will integrate biology with AI to measure soil health. The platform will use advanced imaging and a large database to identify organisms, providing fast and reliable data for farmers and researchers. The project plans to expand its database to include fungi and insects. The goal is to scale this technology to support informed decision-making for sustainable land management across Europe.
Objective
Soil health and biodiversity are essential for ecosystem functionality and food system resilience, as soil acts as the primary agricultural medium and hosts over 25% of the world's biological diversity. Yet, more than 60% of European soils are degraded due to unsustainable practices, causing significant biodiversity threats and ecosystem service losses, costing Europe over €50B annually.
Strategic initiatives like the UN Biodiversity Conference agreement and the EU's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 support the global importance of soil biodiversity, with substantial investments aimed at combating biodiversity loss. The EU Soil Health Law marks a major advancement toward sustainable soil management.
Nematodes, with their diverse ecological roles, serve as excellent bioindicators of soil health. The current market trends in soil research, driven by increasing global awareness and stringent regulatory requirements, present significant growth opportunities, particularly in biodiversity metrics that can enhance agricultural practices and sustainability.
Yet, nematodes pose identification challenges with traditional manual methods being labor-intensive and prone to errors. Innovations like DNA sequencing and big data analytics introduce new assessment methods, yet they contend with challenges such as high costs and extended processing times.
At Veridi, the development of the Automated Soil Biodiversity Identification system merges nematology with AI, providing a transformative solution for accurately measuring soil biodiversity. This innovation will advance soil research and support sustainable farming and environmental management, driving market growth and opening investment opportunities in the growing field of soil biodiversity. With EIC support, we plan to optimize the hardware and software, expand the database, thoroughly test and validate the system, deploy it end-to-end, conduct customer pilots, and scale up the platform to include fungi and insect analysis.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- natural sciences computer and information sciences databases
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-EIC-ACC - HORIZON EIC Accelerator
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-02
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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.
2514 GJ The Hague
Netherlands
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
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.