Why the EU supports research and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas
Agriculture and forestry provide food, feed and non-food products to meet the demands of a wide range of industries and consumers, under a variety of geographical and socio-economic conditions. They also provide social and environmental benefits and play an important role in the developing rural areas, improving quality of life, and creating jobs.
World population growth, hunger, obesity and evolving consumer demands put pressure on agricultural production to improve food and nutrition security globally. Simultaneously, farming and food systems must be resilient against the challenges of finite resources, environmental degradation, climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
Transitions require locally adapted solutions that both improve the economic viability and social conditions of farming, enable generational renewal and contribute to the development, resilience and attractiveness of rural areas.
Research and innovation is critically important to develop and upscale knowledge, practices, technological and social innovations, policies and governance that will enable transitions towards sustainable farming systems and rural communities.
EU agricultural research and innovation is guided by a long-term strategic approach that focuses on creating value from land through sustainable primary production and on enhancing rural innovation.
Key research areas
Funding opportunities
Horizon Europe
Calls for proposals and funding information related to food, bioeconomy, natural resources agriculture and environment.
LIFE programme
Some agriculture and forestry related calls may be found in this programme.
European structural and investment funds
Agriculture research related calls may be found in this programme.
Collaboration and jobs
Find project partners
Search and view profiles of all organisations that have received funding via the funding and tenders opportunities portal.
Joint programming with EU countries
Partnerships with EU countries on agricultural research programmes.
Research infrastructures
Major facilities, resources and services used by the science community.
Global partnerships
International cooperation in research and innovation contributes to respond to global challenges.
Jobs (EURAXESS)
Researcher jobs in related fields.
Projects and results
Agricultural research and innovation in a nutshell
This factsheet gives an overview of the research and innovation related to agriculture and forestry under Horizon 2020 societal challenge 2.
Research project database (CORDIS)
The Commission's primary portal for results of EU-funded research projects.
Project success stories
Stories of particularly successful EU-funded research projects.
EIP-AGRI agricultural innovation project database
The one-stop shop to EU-funded agricultural innovation projects.
Scientific publications, tools and databases
Scientific publications
Scientific publications produced by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Agriculture research tools and databases
Software and modelling tools and databases related to agriculture, developed and compiled by the Commission's Joint Research Centre.
EU Open Data Portal
Single point of access to open data produced by the EU institutions. All data is free to use for commercial and non-commercial purposes.
OpenAIRE
All scientific publications from Horizon 2020 are accessible via OpenAIRE.
Copernicus
Access to agriculture data from the Copernicus programme.