Project description
Crop growth with minimum water consumption
Aridity and desertification represent significant threats to European agriculture, particularly in the South. In addition, traditional animal feeds like soy meal and sunflower cake harm the environment. Lemna is a high-protein animal feed crop that can be grown with a minimum of water and at a low cost. DryGro proposes an innovative method to grow this crop in arid lands, reduce water consumption by 99 %, and cost by more than 50 % per unit of output. The EU-funded DEGCAE project will perform a feasibility study to explore the economic and technological viability of the method in Spain, Italy and Greece. In the initial phase of commercialisation, the project will select adequate markets and support the trials in these countries.
Objective
DryGro is an agriculture technology company that has developed an innovative new way to grow animal feed crops using very little water. This method uses large, 20m x 200m closed environment growing units to grow a high-protein animal feed crop called lemna, and can replace traditional animal feed staples like soy meal and sunflower cake which are very environmentally damaging.
DryGro growing units have a number of advantages to traditional feed growing. Units are placed above ground, and thus avoid the need to compete with traditional growing methods for use of high quality arable land in the production process. Using this method, animal feed protein can be grown at a market price cheaper than is currently available on the market today. Current testing indicates that this method reduces water consumption per gram of protein by over 99%. DryGro technology increases yield per hectare by around 8x compared to traditional protein ingredients like soy. The market for feed produced by this technology is valued at over $150bn per year.
The key USPs of DryGro's technology are:
1) Ability to grow high-nutrient crops in areas otherwise unsuitable for agriculture; 2) 99% reduction in water consumption; 3) cost reduction of >50% per unit of output and 4) flexibility in choice of location, thus shortening supply chains and reducing costs. This feasibility study seeks to explore the technological and economic viability of expanding operations into three European target markets (Spain, Italy and Greece; selected as they face significant threats regarding aridity/desertification). It is hoped that the Phase 1 feasibility study will select the most suitable 1-2 markets of these countries, and underpin a Phase 2 application to enable DryGro to undertake trials in the target countries.
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 biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds oilseeds
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- agricultural sciences animal and dairy science domestic animals animal husbandry animal feed
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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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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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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.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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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) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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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.
HP17 8HE AYLESBURY, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
United Kingdom
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.