Organic-PLUS has produced new knowledge to phase-out many contentious inputs used in organic and conventional agriculture. To minimise the need for copper and mineral oils it has built on previous research (e.g. Blight Mop, RepCo, Co Free), and extended it to crops poorly addressed before, notably Mediterranean tree crops (e.g. citrus and olive) and horticultural crops in greenhouses (e.g. tomatoes). The use in potatoes in northern Europe was also researched, especially in combination with DSS (decision support systems) and cropping system re-design. The use of copper, mineral oils and sulphur for crop protection in Europe (Katsoulas et al., 2020) and available alternatives (Andrivon et al., 2020) were mapped. Using this knowledge it could be shown in field and greenhouse trials that with a combination of methods, especially decision support systems, input substitution and re-design, legal copper limits can be halved as a first step and the phase-out of mineral oils and sulphur is feasible. For the inputs researched for livestock systems a complete phase-out of antibiotics and anthelmintics is not feasible. Further research at TRL-level 6 (technology readiness level) is needed to improve our understanding of the use of anti-infective and immune-stimulatory molecules from natural plant sources as alternatives to synthetic products. The research published various examples of promising results (e.g. with spruce bark) and also expanding into zinc used in pig production. Alternatives to straw bedding were found to be feasible, although cost and availability are still issues. In the work related to SOIL inputs (alternatives to animal manure from non-organic farms, animal-derived fertiliser inputs, peat and plastic mulching) were researched. The phase-out of all is feasible and the TRL was increased but further innovation action type research is needed. The feasibility of the phase-out including LCA analysis (life-cycle assessment) was researched for all contentious inputs using a common framework with clear policy recommendations, including highlighting knowledge gaps. Exploitation of DSS and novel concepts happened on stakeholder farms and with patents on the bio-plastic alternatives researched. This included system modelling for evaluating the cost-benefit, feasibility and operational management options for the different pathways using scenarios on case farms across Europe with economic feasibility, technical feasibility and operational feasibility. Uniquely to Organic-PLUS the technical and socio-economic research was complemented with social science on consumer conceptions of contentious inputs. This included the largest ever representative survey of public opinion on contentious inputs with over 15,000 respondents in 7 European countries. In addition, public engagement research with novel citizen-farmer hybrid competency forums in the UK, Italy and Norway has deepened our understanding of science-society dialogue about contentious inputs in farming (see website created for this: www.improvingorganic.life. All results were widely disseminated with on-farm meeting, academic dissemination, conferences and policy briefs.
