Agriculture & Forestry

Forest-based industries have long been a significant part of the European economy, converting wood into pulp, paper, cardboard, energy and a range of other wood-derived products. However, the side-streams of these industries contain a potential treasure-trove of valuable materials which have not been fully exploited so far. These materials include precious compounds known to have anti-cancer properties, which have in effect been discarded as waste.

Although pigs are actually one of world’s cleanest creatures – despite their reputation to the contrary – cleaning up after them is a challenging task. The bulk, gas emissions and associated odours give pig manure a bad name. But if you know how to extract them, there are value nutrients secreted in the slurry. The EU-funded EfficientHeat project has advanced waste disposal while giving pig farmers the potential to turn manure into money.

By far the most heated debate surrounding biofuels is the use of food crops to produce fuel, as the practice increases the competition for land and drives up the price of food . With a decade of research behind it, the European Union (EU)-funded project KACELLE has proven that crops such as wheat and maize do not necessarily need to be used in the increasing demand for energy.

EU-funded researchers have developed a smart irrigation system that calculates the exact amount of water crops need each day. The technology allows farmers to save time, effort and water and achieve the best yield possible – drop by drop.

Parasites such as nematodes and mastitis can cause serious health and welfare problems to both sheep and goat production. As resistance to current drug treatments increases, there is a strong need to develop new methods to rectify the situation.

Forest fires are one of the greatest threats to Europe’s woodlands, and their incidence is expected to increase as a result of climate change. Successfully preventing forest fires has become more important than ever. However, it remains a challenge for governments – also because forest fires tend not to respect national borders.

Farmers around the world are united in their loathing of fruit flies. A new warning system developed by an EU-funded project to alert them of imminent infestation could save struggling farmers both time and money – and cut down on pesticide use. Two companies are preparing to commercialise the results.

The Czech Liaison Office for Research, Development and Innovation (CZELO), together with the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU, will hold a half-day conference on water research for agriculture. The aim of the conference is to discuss challenges in the water management related to the sustainable production in the European agriculture sector.

The common tool is the Horizon 2020 programme which tackles aspects of water ecosystems and agricultural research. The conference will present policy view on water resources and agricultural research as well as stakeholders´ views (researchers from Czech Republic and other European countries). All participants are kindly requested to register in advance by completing the registration form before 6 June 2014.

They may sound exotic or obscure to most of us, but they are an integral part of our everyday lives, whether we know about them or not. Known as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), they are chemical compounds which are used in a wide variety of industrial products, from food and drink packaging to fire-fighting foams, to dirt- or water-proofing treatments for carpets or clothing. The drawback is that these chemicals have now spread throughout the environment. Often the contamination originates in the effluent from wastewater treatment carried out at industrial or municipal sites.

We tend to think of plants as being the first victims of pollution and climate change. But thanks to an FP7 research project, crops, forests and even the plants in your back garden could be fighting back.

Ernesto Morgado SA is the oldest rice-milling company in Portugal. In recent years it has begun to invest heavily in R&D in order to expand its product range. Located in the rice-growing Mondego Valley, Ernesto Morgado has been a player in rice milling since it was set up in 1920. It now employs 55 people.

This short video animation will guide you through the first steps you will need to take to apply to Horizon 2020.

Find out more about Horizon 2020 in this three minute animation clip which will give you a general overview of the programme specifics.

Armstrong, Aldrin, Gagarin … all giants in space exploration. US scientist Gary Stutte may not be in this league, but in the world of ‘space agriculture’, he is a legend. His work on hydroponics and how crops adapt and grow in controlled environments – such as space – fills volumes. Now, thanks to an EU exchange programme, he has shared his expertise with European scientists.

The European Union (EU)-funded project AGROBIOFILM has developed a biodegradable film that is environmentally friendly, regulates soil temperature, controls weed growth and prevents water loss.

Packaging materials can use up precious raw materials and are often difficult to dispose of. The European Union (EU)-funded SUCCIPACK project demonstrated ways of using a new material for the food packaging industry – bio-based polybutylene succinate (PBS) – that is expected to significantly reduce the environmental impact.

High-profile food scares, such as the outbreaks of mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease and dioxin contamination episodes in recent years, have put a spotlight on a growing concern for food safety: the need to ensure that animal feed – an expanding global trade – is free from contamination. The European Union (EU)-funded project QSAFFE is working on faster and better ways of checking for contaminated feed.

Something is growing at the heart of Europe’s forests: a community of innovators has gathered to boost and improve the use of wood and its derivatives. The forest-based industries are ideally positioned to help build a sustainable future and a knowledge-based economy. A large-scale programme partly funded by the EU is backing this effort.

The Kyoto Protocol was one of the first major international treaties that focused on human caused climate change. Signed in 1997 by 192 countries, it came into effect in 2005 with a set of legal requirements for industrialised nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. One aspect of the Protocol is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which enables developed nations to reach their emissions targets by sponsoring emissions-reducing projects in the CDM countries - namely China, India, Brazil and most of Africa.

In a time of climate change, when fuel resources are under pressure and lands face potential erosion risks, humble grass seems an unlikely saviour. The European research project OPTIMA is helping cultivate high-yielding perennial grasses that could address these possible challenges, offering a number of valuable environmental and economic benefits.