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Deadline expired

The deadline for this call has expired.

Call key data

Improving yields in organic cropping systems

Call number

HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-3

deadlines

Opening
22.12.2022

Deadline
12.04.2023 17:00

Funding rate

100%

Call budget

€ 8,000,000.00

Estimated EU contribution per project

€ 4,000,000.00

Link to the call

ec.europa.eu

Link to the submission

ec.europa.eu

Call content

Call objectives

Promoting the use of more sustainable farming practices is a EU policy objective enshrined in the European Green Deal and its related strategies. Boosting organic farming, one of the objectives of the farm to fork and of the EU biodiversity strategies, can greatly contribute to achieving this ambition. Moreover, the Communication ‘Safeguarding food security and reinforcing the resilience of food systems’ highlights the role that organic farming can play in reducing EU’s dependence on external inputs.

Reaching at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming will require among other elements, a significant increase in current conversion rates. One of the obstacles that hinders conversion to organic farming is the fact that several crops grown under organic conditions achieve lower yields per hectare as compared with those produced under conventional farming practices. Closing the yield gap is therefore important in order to further improve the economic competitiveness and resilience of the sector, as well as to increase farmers’ adoption of organic production

At the same time, closing of the yield gap should not compromise the principles and objectives of organic farming, in particular with regard to the recycling of nutrients. Moreover, it is important that approaches and strategies aiming at bridging the yield gap in organic farming are holistic and take into consideration the implications on the entire farming system.

By using a participatory approach, proposals should set up a European-wide network of testing, experimentation and demonstration sites to test, co-create and showcase practices and strategies that improve yields of crops produced under organic conditions. In this context, proposals should:

  • Identify the most relevant crops in organic production for which yields can be sustainably improved in the short term, and propose crop-specific strategies with due attention to local and site-specific practices. This should consider cost-effectiveness analysis comparing with conventional farming production, in order to evaluate the economical sustainability of the strategies proposed.
  • Give due attention to holistic approaches, such as those that contribute to improving organic-tailored plant varieties and appropriate use of breeds and varieties, and building soil fertility and optimal nutrient management (e.g., integrated plant-animal production systems, use of manure as fertiliser, nutrient recycling, introduction of crop rotations and intercropping, use of leguminous crops, circular approaches for maintaining and increasing soil organic matter, locally-specific optimization of water use, etc.). Nursery techniques for the production of suitable organic plant reproductive material should also be considered.
  • Organise and implement advisory activities, exchange of knowledge and best practices as well as dissemination of results, including the development of practical guidelines and decision-support tools for farmers. These activities should also engage farmers involved in low-input farming, agro-ecological or circular farming, to facilitate cross-fertilisation and mutual learning.
  • Identify remaining gaps (including normative gaps where relevant) and prepare a research and innovation roadmap to boost yields of crops produced under organic conditions. For these activities, proposals should ensure collaboration with relevant activities carried out under other actions in Horizon Europe, and ensure coherence with and contribution to the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda of the future partnership ‘’Accelerating farming systems transition: agro-ecology living labs and research infrastructures’’ and its successive updates.

Proposals must implement the 'multi-actor approach’ and ensure adequate involvement of the main stakeholders (farmers, breeders, researchers, advisors, industry, etc.). Proposals should cover a representative range of pedo-climatic conditions across Europe and a wide range of crops (arable and perennial) reflecting the diversity of the European organic plant production sector. Proposals should ensure synergies and build on the results from previous and/or ongoing research projects. Proposals should include a dedicated task, appropriate resources and a plan on how they will collaborate with other projects funded under this topic, and ensure synergy with relevant activities carried out under other initiatives in Horizon Europe, including under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2023-GOVERNANCE: ‘Developing an EU advisory network on organic agriculture’, HORIZON-CL6-2024-GOVERNANCE: ‘Organic farming thematic network to compile and share knowledge ready for practice’, and the future partnership ‘Accelerating farming systems transition: agroecology living labs and research infrastructures’. In order to better address some or all of the expected outcomes, as well as to promote learning and cross-fertilisation with activities carried out outside of Europe, international cooperation is encouraged.

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Expected effects and impacts

A successful proposal should support the objectives of the farm to fork strategy to transition to fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption, notably the objective to promote and increase organic farming in Europe, in line with the farm to fork and biodiversity strategies’ target of at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and a significant uptake of agroecological practices. Activities will support the implementation of specific actions in the action plan for the development of organic production. Given the potential of organic farming to contribute to the EU’s climate ambition, this topic will contribute to the objective of a climate-neutral land sector by 2035 and a climate-neutral economy by 2050.

Expected results

  • Increased and accelerated availability, accessibility and adoption of strategies and approaches that improve yields of crops grown under organic conditions, including organic-targeted plant breeding
  • Enhanced climate, environmental and economic performance of organic farming systems
  • Increased networking and knowledge exchange among all relevant actors in the Member States and Associated Countries, contributing to a strengthened research and innovation ecosystem of organic production in Europe
  • Provision of data, scientific support and recommendations for the development, implementation and evaluation of EU policies and initiatives relevant for organic production

Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

EU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), 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, International organization, Natural Person, 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

No

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
  • third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries

Applications may be submitted by one or more legal entities, which may be established in a Member State, Associated Country or, in exceptional cases and if provided for in the specific call conditions, in another third country. 

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.

Specific cases:

  • Affiliated entities — 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 — 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 without legal personality — 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.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
  • 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.

other eligibility criteria

Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach on pages 21-23 of the work programme. 

Additional information

Topics

Administration & Governance, Institutional Capacity & Cooperation, 
Agriculture & Forestry, Fishery, Food, Soil quality, 
Air Quality, Biodiversity & Environment, Climate & Climate Change, Water quality & management

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

All proposals 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.

Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.

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 33 pages.

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Call documents

HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 2HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 2(646kB)

Contact

National Contact Points for Horizon Europe
Website

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