The aim is to improve soil health in Europe’s most important perennial crops such as vineyards, olive groves, apple, chestnut and hazelnut orchards, which have great economic, social and cultural value and are currently threatened by climate change.
The international project LivingSoiLL: Healthy Soils to Perennial Crops, Living Laboratories, coordinated by the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), which also includes researchers from the University of Porto, aims to create and monitor living laboratories for these crops. Little crops throughout Europe.
these Living Labs (Laboratório Vivos/LL) are testbeds for innovative solutions, in this case to promote soil health conservation or restoration, and will serve as multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborative platforms for the co-design, co-development and co-implementation of these solutions. Proposals.
The project will create a European network of five such laboratories, including Northern Portugal-Galicia (LL1), Andalusia (LL2), Northwest Italy (LL3), Loire Valley-Beaujolais (LL4), and Grójec (LL5).
The project is integrated into the Horizonte Europe Solo mission.
The LivingSoiLL project was recently approved by Horizonte Europe Solo Mission, with global funding of around €12 million.
This is a strategy that is expected to contribute to achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal and the strategies that support it, such as the Farm to Fork Strategy or the Biodiversity Strategy, as well as to implementing new monitoring and soil resilience.
Investing in training in sustainable soil management practices and enhancing soil knowledge will also be a relevant component of the project, along with testing and co-creation of innovative, locally adapted solutions.
An alliance of more than 40 partners
The project, which will be implemented over the next 54 months, involves 42 European partners from Portugal, France, Spain, Italy and Poland, and 8 associated partners.
The project also involves the University of Vigo, ADVID – Cluster of Vine and Wine and Colab VINES&WINES, companies such as Sogrape Vinhos, ACUSHLA – Azeite Biológico, FERTIPRADO – Sementes e Nutrientes Lda, Sogevinus, Symington, Real Companhia Velha, among others, and also producer associations, such as APPITAD – Association of Producers in the Integrated Protection of the Trás-os-montes and Alto Douro Region.
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