Intercropping – understanding and using the benefits of complexity in farming and value chains
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Farmers face increasing pressure to shift production towards lower input systems, while continuing to ensure sufficient supplies of food and non-food products. Diversified farming systems making use of strategic intercrops can also improve soil health and deliver multiple ecosystem services. The benefits of intercropping are the result of highly dynamic interactions between plants and their environment and allow to optimise the use of resources such as nutrients, water or solar radiation. Despite these benefits, intercropping is not widely applied in European agriculture, due e.g. to an increased complexity of operations and labour intensity at farm level or a market pulls for more standardised products and processing as well as for simplified modes of marketing.
Detailed Call Description
Activities should:
- Study the (context specific) mechanisms that underpin the benefits associated with intercropping such as enhanced resource efficiency, disease and pest avoidance and product quality;
- Elucidate the links between above- and below-ground species interactions and how these could be optimised through management;
- Provide evidence on the effects of intercropping on product quality down the value chain;
- Identify, test and demonstrate agronomic practices that promote benefits from intercropping by optimising the interactions between plants, environment and management (G x G x E x M) , including the use of inputs and adapted machinery such as precision tools;
- Explore farmers’ the motivation to adopt intercropping practices and propose solutions to overcome potential barriers;
- Promote the uptake of intercropping through the development of guidelines and wide-spread practical demonstrations taking into account a range of farming systems, pedo-climatic conditions and value chains;
- Identify and test avenues for marketing and processing of more diverse farming outputs across the value chain.
Result of activities should benefit both conventional and organic agriculture. International co-operation is strongly encouraged in particular with countries where intercropping is more widely applied, yet would benefit from further optimisation.
Activities must implement the multi-actor approach, thus ensure an adequate involvement of advisors, farmers, other players in the value chain and consumers. Communication and outreach to a wide range of stakeholders is essential. Proposals should specify how they plan to collaborate with other proposals selected under this and other relevant topics.
This topic should include the effective contribution of SSH disciplines.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
EU contribution per project: €8,00 million
Thematic Categories
- Agriculture - Farming - Forestry
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
Eligibility for Participation
- Farmers Unions
- Farmers, Agriculturalists
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou Street, 1075 Nicosia
T.Th. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
+357 22205000
Email: support@research.org.cy
George Christou
Contact Phone: 22 205 030
E-mail: gchristou@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/
Charalambos Papatryfonos
Contact Phone: 22 205 016
E-mail: cpapatryfonos@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/
(Publish Date: 10/11/2021-for internal use only)
EU Contact Point
European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/research-and-innovation_en#contact