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Soil degradation, drought and water scarcity are all problems affecting agriculture and forestry. The EIC-funded Agrobiogel project is proposing an innovative solution that stores and slowly releases water and fertiliser to address these problems encountered in modern farming, plant nurseries and greenhouses worldwide. The innovation saves up to 40 % in irrigation water use, protects plants and crops from increasing droughts and erratic rainfall patterns, reduces agricultural input costs and converts agricultural non-productive soils into agricultural lands. Agrobiogel utilises widely underutilised lignin produced by the pulp and paper industry. What's more, it can replace expensive non-biodegradable fossil-based hydrogels with much cheaper organic ones.

Wheat is an important crop in Europe. To keep it growing, scientists are studying soil and plant microbial communities. The EU-funded WHEATBIOME project will bring together academia, industry, food system actors and governmental authorities in six EU countries to carry out two case studies and a lab-scale demonstrator. The project will also study the role of microbial fermentation in food/feed quality and reduce food waste by recirculating wheat by-products. Another aspect of the research will be explaining the interactions between wheat (prebiotics, probiotics, bioactive compounds and immunogenic proteins) and the human/animal microbiota, and their effect on human and animal health. The findings will be used to develop farming practices for resilient and nutritious wheat crops. Specifically, the project will produce a new decision support system.

The project aims to tackle six project areas – some 251 hectares in total – such as the Kleine Nete Valley (VL) and the Dal van de Dommel and Kleine Dommel (NL). In addition to restoration and management, ADMIRE aims to establish a sustainable cooperation with stakeholders (such as farmers) in the different transition areas to explore the possibilities of adapted land management with the necessary funding mechanisms. Furthermore, the project will raise awareness about the social importance of peat protection in the border region and realise a Veen platform for knowledge sharing and exchange.

Contaminated sites managed by in situ treatments always require direct contact between the remediation agent and the contaminant. In-situ remediation is therefore limited to highly permeable soils to ensure proper distribution of the remediation agents into the contaminated matrices. However, the FRAC-IN technology enables remedial agents to be injected into sites with a low permeability. It combines direct-push drilling – an innovative delivery method used for emplacement of remediation agents in situ without needing to install permanent wells – with pneumatic and hydraulic fracturing to inject remediation agents into low permeable contaminated soils. The FRAC-IN technology creates secondary porosity at the same time as applying the reactive substances, enabling the creation of large reactive zones in the contaminated aquifer.

To reduce the damage to ecosystems and natural biodiversity while also maintaining food production standards, novel solutions are needed to strike a balance. The EU-funded TRIBIOME project will work towards this goal by researching and improving data on soil, human, animal and plant microbiomes, as well as their interconnectivity. From this data, the project will be able to create solutions for reducing the food industry’s resource needs and environmental impact, adopting healthier plant-based food chains and enhancing circularity. To improve their efficiency, a multi-actor approach framework will be created involving stakeholders, policymakers, investors and citizens.