Project description
Growing soil and plant biodiversity
Building a resilient agricultural sector starts with the soil. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution because soil conditions vary across regions. The EU-funded MultiSoil project aims to develop site-specific best practices and technical guidelines designed to bridge the gap between high-yield farming and ecological preservation. It takes a holistic approach to the rhizosphere, examining how soil and plant health are mutually dependent. The goal is to stabilise crop performance while protecting the microbial and invertebrate communities that maintain soil fertility over the long term. This approach helps ensure a successful transition to sustainable agriculture.
Objective
MultiSoil’s goal is to co-create, test, and demonstrate agricultural practices that improve soil and plant health factors and thus maintain soil functional biodiversity. This in turn helps control pests with less chemicals, in line with Horizon Europe’s Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” specific objectives to reduce soil pollution, enhance restoration, and improve soil structure to enhance soil biodiversity and crop production.
Soil organic amendments, microbial inoculants, and diversified cropping systems are co-developed with local actors into innovations to complement Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. Their site-specific effectiveness is analysed, and sustainability is assessed in experimental field trials and demonstration sites covering 6 European pedoclimatic zones (7 countries). Innovations are tested and demonstrated with a range of commercially important crops (potato, sugar beet, maize, winter rye, olives, wheat). This will be supported by existing data, collected from other projects, existing field trials, and ongoing Living Labs, to monitor the long-term effects of the practices.
MultiSoil is created with farmers and implements a multi-actor approach to ensure continuation of the good practices after the project timespan. Activities will include sharing knowledge, capacity building and training focusing on the tools and expertise developed by MultiSoil. The project will reach out to relevant R&I initiatives and projects, maximising knowledge exchange, and seeking synergies and collaboration. By the end of the project, local actors will have a Toolbox of tailored best practices, and guidelines on how to improve soil health and support soil biodiversity. Data on the social, economic and environmental impacts as well as the risks of the developed practices will support decision making.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences soil sciences
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds cereals
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.2.6 - Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.6.5 - Food Systems
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HORIZON.2.6.3 - Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Areas
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HORIZON.2.6.2 - Biodiversity and Natural Resources
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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-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions
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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-MISS-2024-SOIL-01
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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.
00790 Helsinki
Finland
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.