Project hub

The Mission Soil project hub provides information on projects funded under the Mission and other relevant initiatives. Through the project hub, it will be possible to gain oversight of the emerging Mission project portfolio and follow the progress and outcomes of funded projects and initiatives more easily. The hub provides information on the goals, activities, and results, factual or expected, of the projects and initiatives, outlining the relevance to Mission objectives. 

The repository enables searches by Mission objectives (specific and operational), funding programme, time and country and allows free data downloading.

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EXCALIBUR

Exploiting the multifunctional potential of belowground biodiversity in horticultural farming

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €6,995,107.50

Rich in biodiversity, the soil microbiome plays an important role in agricultural soil systems. The EU-funded EXCALIBUR project will enhance knowledge on soil biodiversity dynamics and its synergistic effects with prebiotic and probiotic approaches in horticulture. New multifunctional soil microbial inoculants (bio-inocula) and bio-effectors will be tested on three model crops of economic importance (tomato, apple, strawberry) under different experimental and open-field conditions across Europe, and the feed-feedback effect of/on native biodiversity will be monitored. To go beyond the multitude of studies on the links between soil biodiversity and plant health, EXCALIBUR will develop a comprehensive strategy of soil management improving the effectiveness of biocontrol and bio-fertilisation practices in agriculture.

EiCLaR

Enhanced In Situ Bioremediation for Contaminated Land Remediation

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €4,876,278.75

The EiCLaR project is composed of 18 partners from Europe and China and coordinated by the Ecole Centrale of Lyon. EiCLaR will develop scientific and technical innovations for in situ bioremediation technologies that will be directly developed into industrial processes for the rapid, efficient, cost-effective treatment of a range of environmental pollutants (chlorinated solvents, heavy metals, hydrocarbons). These technologies (electro-nanobioremediation, monitored bioaugmentation, bioelectrochemical remediation, and enhanced phytoremediation) will expand their range of applications to industrial sites that contain complex, high concentration pollutant mixtures. EiCLaR’s environmental, sustainable and low impact methods will provide researchers, site managers, developers, procurers, service and technology providers with the tools to manage contaminated soil and groundwater, and improve the environmental quality throughout the EU and China.

SOILdarity

Stepping up and bringing out the scientific excellence and innovation capacity in soil research of the University of Lisbon

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €899,976.25

Soil science is essential for precision agriculture and for sustainable soil management. The EU-funded SOILdarity project will develop strategies to integrate soil ecology with cutting-edge soil and crop sensors, modelling and system-control-technologies for sustainable soil management. The project will focus on Portugal, where soil faces considerable challenges due to management and climate change, erosion and overexploitation. It will facilitate the cooperation between the leading partner FCiências.ID (including Ciências, the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Science), and two leading research institutions: MIGAL- Galilee Research Institute (Israel) and UGENT University (Belgium). The leading partner aims at boosting the research and innovation capacity of Ciências, improving its know-how in precision agriculture and sustainable soil management through knowledge-transfer established with internationally leading research-intensive partners.

Phy2Climate

A global approach for recovery of arable land through improved phytoremediation coupled with advanced liquid biofuel production and climate friendly copper smelting process

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €4,031,100.00

During the last decade, the challenge of management and treatment of polluted soils has been addressed through phytoremediation, a gradually evolving technology with the ability to clean up a wide variety of organic and inorganic waste efficiently and inexpensively. The EU-funded Phy2Climate project aims to validate five phytoremediation pilots in selected contaminated sites with the most common soil contaminants worldwide. Subsequently, these pilots aim to produce energy crops that will eventually feed a pilot biorefinery focused on the production of four types of clean drop-in biofuels for the road and shipping transport sectors at TRL-5.

SUPER-G

Developing SUstainable PERmanent Grassland systems and policies

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €9,994,996.83

The existence and management of permanent grasslands (PG) is key to the delivery of multiple ecosystem services (ES) across Europe. However, PG maintenance and functions are under threat from sub-optimal management of inputs, cultivation in higher output farming systems and abandonment in remote and marginal areas. The overall objective of the SUPER-G project is to co-develop sustainable PG systems and policies with farmers and policy makers that will be effective in optimising productivity, whilst supporting biodiversity and delivering a number of other ES.

SOPLAS

Macro and Microplastic in Agricultural Soil Systems

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €3,719,361.24

Plastic is a vital material in our economy and daily lives. Unfortunately, it is associated with high levels of waste and leakage to the environment. For instance, plastic debris and especially microplastics (particles less than 5 mm in size) can be found in agricultural soils – from silage bags and greenhouse cover films to sewage sludge and compost. The EU-funded SOPLAS project will assemble a multidisciplinary team to study the nexus of plastic–agriculture–soil. It will also train a new generation of leading experts. The project aims to identify the plastic cycle within agricultural soil systems and support the development of environmental policies related to mitigating the impact of plastics. The findings will advance our knowledge about the sustainable use of plastics in European agriculture.

SomSOM

Self-organisation of microbial soil organic matter turnover

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €1,896,129.00

The role of microbial turnover of soil organic matter (SOM) is central in the Earth’s carbon (C) cycle. However, its fundamental mechanism is not entirely understood. The EU-funded SomSOM project will investigate from the perspective of complex systems science. According to the complex systems theory, interactions between individuals at the micro level can lead to ‘self-organisation’ at the macro level. The system acquires new qualities that do not derive from the characteristics of the interacting individuals. However, if microbial decomposer systems are self-organised, they may present different behaviour than that expected under changing environmental circumstances. The project will investigate if the microbial decomposition of organic matter is conducted by self-organisation and what impact this has on soil C and nitrogen cycling.

Soils4Africa

Soil Information System for Africa

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €6,697,797.50

Information about the condition and spatio-temporal dynamics of African soils is highly fragmented and dated. There is a need for accurate, up-to-date and spatially referenced soil information to support sustainable agriculture in Africa. The EU-funded Soils4Africa project's aim is to provide an open-access soil information system with a set of key indicators and underpinning data, accompanied by a methodology for repeated soil monitoring across the African continent. The soil information system will become part of the knowledge and information system of the Food, Nutrition, Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) roadmap and will be hosted by an African institute. The project will provide important support for innovations in the agricultural sector in Africa and actively connect organisations across Africa and Europe to promote synergies and an open science approach.

SoildiverAgro

Soil biodiversity enhancement in European agroecosystems to promote their stability and resilience by external inputs reduction and crop performance increase

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €6,999,888.75

Soil biodiversity and associated ecosystem services may result in crop production and quality increases. EU policies encourage management practices and production systems that ensure agricultural stability, resilience and growth. The EU-funded SoildiverAgro project aims to propose new practices increasing quality and production of crops while reducing external inputs. SoildiverAgro will be deployed in nine European regions using advanced management practices based on mycorrhiza and plant growth promoting bacteria, appropriate management of soil organisms, suitable crop rotations and intercropping, pest alert systems, nutrient catch crops, trap crops for pest control, by-products as soil ameliorants and adequate tillage systems. Project outcomes will be evaluated for soil biodiversity, ecosystems services delivery, and environmental, social and economic impact of crop management.

SMILE

Soil MIcrobial responses to land use and climatic changes in the Light of Evolution

Funding period: -

EU contribution: €1,688,250.00

How do soil microbes access, transform, store and release their most important resources, carbon and nutrients? In the context of land use and climatic changes, are microbial processes promoting retention or loss of soil carbon and nutrients? What’s known is that these processes have global-scale impacts. However, it remains difficult to understand and quantify how microbes respond to changes in resources locally. The EU-funded SMILE project is proposing a new theory based on the idea that microbial use of soil resources is optimised by natural selection. This approach, which accounts for microbial adaptation, will be implemented in new models of soil carbon and nutrients that will help understand how land use and climatic changes affect soils.