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Call key data
Provide digital solutions tailored to small and medium-sized farms to monitor and sustainably manage agricultural inputs and natural resources
Funding Program
Horizon Europe: Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Call number
HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-06
deadlines
Opening
06.05.2025
Deadline
17.09.2025 17:00
Funding rate
70%
Call budget
€ 8,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 8,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
In line with the common agricultural policy objectives, the European Green Deal and the headline ambitions of a digital age and economy that work for people, leaving no one behind, more specifically the zero pollution action plan for air, water and soil, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the Climate Law and the climate adaptation strategy, the successful proposal will improve the capacities of small- and medium-sized farms to manage agricultural inputs and natural resources through the uptake of tailored digital tools making use of data technologies, including generative AI. In that way, the proposal should encourage farming systems to prevent and reduce pollution in water, air and soil, increase the use efficiency of natural resources, reduce the impact of climate change, and empower farmers to take informed decisions on agricultural inputs and natural resources for environmental and economic sustainability, as described for this destination.
Call objectives
A key challenge for the agricultural sector is to provide food in a context of increasing global population, climate change and price volatility while reducing pollution and preserving natural resources and biodiversity for future generations. Farmers should be able to adopt innovative solutions to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the farming sector while lowering its environmental footprint. However, still many farmers, particularly small- and medium-sized ones, do not have easy access to monitoring and decision support systems and tools fed with data reflecting local conditions and farm characteristics.
Digital and data technologies offer solutions to monitor environmental parameters (e.g. soil conditions, water and air quality, nutrients content and availability) in a cost-efficient manner while supporting decision-making of natural resources and inputs management.
Expected effects and impacts
Proposals should:
- critically analyse the potential and limitations of R&I results from relevant past and ongoing projects, and the requirements of further development to meet farmers’ needs (including a cost-benefit analysis), made available to industrial partners (including SMEs) that provide technological solutions to farmers to monitor and manage natural resources and agricultural inputs. This should be in the form of a structured catalogue of these results relevant to the topic such as new sensors, software, databases, applications, methodologies, algorithms, etc. (non-exhaustive list), and covering different farming systems/approaches, including organic farming;
- identify barriers and enablers for translation of R&I results into practical and commercial tools for small- and medium-sized farmers, and for the uptake by these end-users, as well as characterise remaining knowledge, training and/or advice gaps, and needs for policy feedback;
- design and set up an accessible and searchable web-based database with technical descriptions and relevant information of all the available results from the catalogue in a structured way, making concrete efforts to follow the FAIR principles;
- set up a central brokerage and support service point aimed at matching innovation ideas from industrial partners that want to improve or create new products or services with the needs of small- and medium-sized farmers. These developments include, for example, increasing the number of measured parameters on existing devices, improving precision, automation, integration of systems and decision-making tools considering the diverse pedo-climatic, cropping and social conditions across the EU and Associated Countries while checking also the transferability to other regions with similar characteristics. The service should be free of charge for the industrial partners;
- establish a network of research and innovation providers and intermediaries with capacity to support the industrial partners to identify and develop the newly adapted solutions;
- provide innovations based on digital and data-based solutions (e.g. IoT, remote sensing, sensors, (generative) artificial intelligence, data visualization techniques) and tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized farmers, carefully considering the specific barriers and enablers for adoption in each context (e.g. skills of end users, access to and understanding of digital tools, availability of local data, investment need, connectivity, gender role perceptions and expectations, diverse pedo-climatic and socio-economic conditions across the EU and Associated Countries, etc.) and proposing how to overcome these difficulties and foster the enablers;
- develop prototypes of the innovations and test them in an operational environment;
- set up a community of practice to facilitate science-business exchanges and to share experiences across the EU and Associated Countries. Complementarities with European and national AKIS knowledge channels or similar should be explored;
- propose a clear strategy to disseminate and exploit results, innovations and best practices during and beyond the project lifetime;
- monitor progress of the different innovations delivered by the supported third parties, taking stock of good practices and contribution to the achievement of the objectives of the topic.
Proposals should implement the multi-actor approach, involving at least scientists, private companies, innovators, advisors and farmers to ensure a functional and effective product which is tailored to the farmers’ needs.
Proposals should provide financial support to third parties to help private partners to develop those innovative products primarily building on the technologies identified in the catalogue. It is expected that minimum 50% and maximum 65% of the EU funding should be allocated to this purpose. Consortia need to define a selection process for the industrial partners for which financial support may be granted. The provision of training (including technical guidelines and ad-hoc materials) and support services to farmers and advisers should be considered as a criterion to grant financial support to these third parties.
This topic should involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines, especially in the field of behavioural sciences and adoption of technologies.
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Expected results
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- small- and medium-sized farmers are empowered with innovative digital and data-driven solutions tailored to their specific needs, allowing for the sustainable management of water, nutrients, other inputs and natural resources in conventional and other types of agriculture, including organic farming systems;
- the digital divide between farms with differing capacities and characteristics is reduced.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Canada, Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), New Zealand (Aotearoa), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
EU Body, Education and training institution, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
other eligibility criteria
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- Legal entities created under EU law (EU bodies) including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions or when provided for in the specific call/topic conditions. Other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding, unless provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.
- Joint Research Centre (JRC)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
- EU restrictive measures — Entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) as well as Article 75 TFEU, are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
- Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine — Given the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the involvement of Belarus, there is currently no appropriate context allowing the implementation of the actions foreseen in this programme with legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine. Therefore, even where such entities are not subject to EU restrictive measures, such legal entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity. This includes participation as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any). Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.
With specific regard to measures addressed to Russia, following the adoption of the Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 of 24 June 2024 (amending Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014) concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, legal entities established outside Russia but whose proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned for more than 50% by a legal person, entity or body established in Russia are also not eligible to participate in any capacity. - Measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary — Following the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022, no legal commitments can be entered into with Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain. Affected entities may continue to apply to calls for proposals and can participate without receiving EU funding, as associated partners, if allowed by the call conditions. However, as long as the Council measures are not lifted, such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties, etc.).In case of multi-beneficiary grant calls, applicants will be invited to remove or replace that entity in any funded role and/or to change its status into associated partner. Tasks and budget may be redistributed accordingly.
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Applications must be submitted using the forms provided inside the electronic submission system (not the templates available on the topic page, which are only for information). The structure and presentation must correspond to the instructions given in the forms.
Applications must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000.
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project.
Call documents
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and EnvironmentHorizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment(kB)
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