Objective
Organic and low-input dairy farming systems are increasingly noted as delivering multifunctional benefits to the agricultural industry and society but technical and economic constraints prevent widespread adoption. SOLID will deliver an innovative toolbox of novel methodologies that will contribute to the competitiveness of the dairy industry and increase the effectiveness with which these benefits are delivered. SOLID facilitates the use of breeds and feeding strategies to maintain productivity, improve animal health and welfare while meeting the market requirement for high quality milk. A multidisciplinary team comprising academic and stakeholder (SME) partners from across Europe, encompassing dairy cows and goats, will identify and apply novel strategies at the farm level and throughout the supply chain. Innovative science and models, combined with a participatory approach, will tackle practical issues, and assess competitive sustainability and integration across a range of scales and geographical contexts. Proteomics combined with genotyping and calorimetry will be used to characterise and quantify dairy cow and goat breed adaptation to organic and low-input systems. Given the reliance of such systems on forage, SOLID will develop novel and sustainable feed resources and design a decision-support model to optimise the management of on-farm forage supply. Life cycle assessment tools will assess environmental sustainability of grassland-based multifunctional dairy systems. Analysis of the supply chain from fork to farm will quantify the acceptability of new strategies and enhance collaboration. An integrated assessment tool and socio-economic modelling will assess innovations on farms and along supply chains, and will predict the impact of more widespread adoption of low-input practises. Effective knowledge dissemination and exchange activities will target key stakeholder groups ensuring exploitation of outputs at animal, farm, region, sector and European levels.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomics
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedairy
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
- natural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistrycalorimetry
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagricultureindustrial cropsfodder
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-KBBE-2010-4
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Funding Scheme
CP-IP - Large-scale integrating projectCoordinator
SY23 3BF Aberystwyth
United Kingdom
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Participants (25)
Participation ended
FI-31600 JOKIOINEN
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8000 Aarhus C
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GL7 6JN Cirencester
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1180 Wien
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60121 Ancona
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9000 Gent
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BT9 5PX Belfast
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00790 Helsinki
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546 36 THESSALONIKI
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1049 Bruxelles / Brussel
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9820 Merelbeke
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28006 Madrid
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077015 Balotesti
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00198 Roma
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BS22 6WA Worle
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SY7 8PG CRAVEN ARMS
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15374 Muencheberg
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SA68 0PX Kilgetty
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40122 Bologna
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74051 MYLOPOTAMOS RETHYMNON
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Participation ended
51820 Hatsola
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2431 LAAKDAL
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18220 Albolote
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7870 Roslev
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717466 BOTOSANI
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