EU-FarmBook

This presentation aims to introduce the Soil-X-Change Project. By connecting farmers, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders, Soil-X-Change aims to enhance Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems, promoting sustainability, smart agriculture, and climate-neutrality. It focuses on harmonizing and disseminating research and practical solutions through an EU-wide network of European Innovation Partnership Operational Groups. Soil-X-Change emphasizes co-design and co-creation, developing user-friendly tools like a data dashboard and adaptation guide to empower farmers with actionable knowledge. The initiative seeks to foster sustainable soil management, contributing to a healthier agricultural ecosystem and a sustainable food production system.

• soil
• sustainability
• soil management
• best practices
• agriculture
• AKIS
• OG
• network

In the framework of the Strength2Food project, Eco-Sensus, a local non-profit organization based in Hungary, the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade, and the NGO EUTA, Serbia, implemented a joint pilot action to expand co-operation and regional food labelling. The pilot action aimed at finding ways in which fresh, healthy, and quality food products can become accessible to local, regional, and international markets via farmers’ co-operation and regional branding, thus increasing opportunities and returns to local farmers. The key recommendations of this pilot action are as follows: For sector practitioners: - Increase innovation of the agricultural sector, both at production and marketing level, to improve farmers’ income; - Opt for organic production and invest more in product labelling and branding; - Develop tools to support local production that take into consideration economic and non-economic factors; - Explore consumers’ preferences to develop effective and sustainable local food systems; - Promote the development of new cooperatives of small farmers. For policy makers: - Restructure national incentive systems for small farmers; - Establish quality and safety standard control systems to support export-oriented practices; - Promote common branding for regional products; - Discourage unfair trade practices; - Make grant and tender procedures more accessible and ensure funds for innovative producers‘ initiatives; - Facilitate multi-stakeholder connections and public-co-operative-partnerships.

• Producer cooperation
• regional food labelling
• pilot action
• Hungary
• Serbia
• recommendations

Biogas done right: 10 "FARMING FOR FUTURE” actions for the agroecological transition. In particular, the aim is a greater stock efficency of C and N into the soils and a lower GHG and N emissions in the atmosphere linked to the digestate use in agriculture. Ecological practices (minimum soil tillage, innovative low-emission systems for the distribution of digestate) to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and increase the supply of organic matter in the soils. The "FARMING FOR FUTURE" actions for the agroecological transition are the follow: - Renewable energy in agriculture, replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources to reduce pollution and emissions; - Agriculture 4.0, adopt advanced agricultural techniques and farming to optimize the use of nutrients; - Livestock manure management,use livestock manure and agricultural by-product to reduce emissions and produce renewable bioenergy - Organic fertilization, using digestate to guarantee the return of nutrients into the soil and reduce the chemical input; - Innovative agricultural processes, adopt agronomic techniques (e.g., minimum tillage, no-tillage, organic fertilization) to reduce emissions into the atmosphere; - Quality and animal welfare, implement agricultural and farm techniques to improve quality and animal welfare. - Increase in soil fertility, adopt double crops to increase carbon sequestration and soil fertility; - Agroforestry, integrate woody crops to increase photosynthesis and organic matter into the soil; - Production and utilisation of biomaterials, using biological, natural and renewable materials - Biogas and other renewable gas, produce methane and hydrogen from agricultural biogas.

• Sustainable agrotechnics
• Renewable fertilizers
• Fertigation
• Digestate microfiltration
• Subsurface drip fertigation