2018 Joint Call

Call on Novel technologies, solutions and systems to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of animal production systems

Launched 8 October 2018

The three ERA-NETs FACCE ERA-GAS, ERA-NET SusAn and ICT-AGRI 2 launched in October 2018 the Joint Call on “Novel technologies, solutions and systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in animal production systems”. The call invited proposals for applied transnational research projects addressing at least two of the themes within the scientific scope, with the overall objective of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in animal production systems in Europe and beyond. The projects’ potential impact should be relevant forthe mitigation of GHG emissions within the coming 5 - 10 years.

 

8 Research projects funded

CCCfarming - Climate Care Cattle Farming Systems Countries involved: NL, IT, LV, PL, LT, FR, USA, BR, IL

FarmSustainaBl - Enabling Smart Livestock Farming Technologies for Environmental Sustainability using Blockchain Countries involved:RO, GR, DK

GrassToGas - Grass To Gas: Strategies to mitigate GHG emissions from pasture based sheep systems Countries involved:UK, FR, UR, NO, IR, NZ, TR

GrASTech - Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) Technologies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Intensity of Pasture-based Cattle Systems Countries involved: BE, FR, UK

M4Models - Manure management for methane mitigation - Improved inventory modelling to support policy actions Countries involved: DK, DE, NL, SE

MELS - Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems Countries involved: DE, IR, DK, NZ, FR, CL, PL, GR

MilKey - Decision support system for sustainable and GHG optimised milk production in key European areas Countries involved: DE, PL, GR, BE, IR, FR, NO

SEASOLUTIONS - Seaweeds and seaweed-ingredients to reduce enteric methane emissions from pasture-based sheep, cattle and dairy cows Countries involved: IR, NO, CA, SE, DE, NO, UK

 

Background

The United Nation’s 17 Sustainability Goals simultaneously cover the three pillars of sustainability - economy, environment and society - and the member states’ declared aim is to achieve these goals by 2030. The agricultural sector, and livestock production in particular, faces challenges in meeting the demand for high quality protein while contributing to the reduction in GHG emissions envisaged in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Livestock farming continues to be the main contributor to agricultural emissions, yet it also offers promising options to mitigate emissions. For livestock production systems, GHG emissions represent losses of nitrogen, energy and organic matter that undermine the productivity and efficiency of the sector. Therefore, effective mitigation strategies incorporated into tailored sustainable production systems can not only reduce the contribution of food production to global climate change but also improve the efficiency and viability of supply chains. The transition towards greater sustainability requires all relevant economic, social and environmental dimensions to be taken into account. Novel technologies, solutions and systems including ICT, robotics and intelligent data analyses can help to achieve these goals.

Aim of the call

The overall objective of the 2018 Joint Call is to contribute to the development of novel technologies, solutions and systems to reduce the GHG intensity of animal production systems in Europe and beyond. This funding initiative calls for applied research. The projects’ potential impact should be relevant for the mitigation of GHG emissions within 5 - 10 years.

Themes

  1. The “holistic theme”: Agroecological approach to whole animal production systems
  2. The “technical theme”: Technical options for the monitoring and mitigation of GHG emissions from animal production systems
  3. The “societal theme”: Social and/or economic approach to livestock production and consumption of animal products

Participating countries

Belgium Flanders Fund for Accompanying Economic and Innovation HERMESFONDS / VLAIO

Canada*Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada AAFC

Chile Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias INIA

Denmark Ministry of Environment and Food, Danish Agricultural Agency DAA

Estonia Ministry of Rural Affairs MEM

Finland Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry MMM

Finland Business Finland BF

France The French National Research Agency ANR

Germany Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture BMEL

Greece General Secretariat for Research and Technology GSRT

Ireland Agriculture and Food Development Authority TEAGASC

Ireland Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine DAFM

Italy Ministry of Agricultural, Food Forestry and Tourism policies MIPAAFT

Latvia State Education Development AgencyVIAA

Lithuania Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania MoA ZUM

The Netherlands Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research NWO

New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries PMI

Norway The Research Council of Norway RCN

Poland National Centre for Research and Development NCBR

Romania The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding UEFISCDI

Slovakia Slovak Academy of Sciences SAS

Spain, Andalucia Technological Corporation of Andalusia CTA

Spain, Murcia Instituto de Fomento de la Región de Murcia INFO MURCIA

Sweden Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development Formas

Turkey Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policy MoAF TAGEM

Turkey The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey TUBITAK

UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DEFRA

Uruguay National Agriculture Research Institute Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria INIA

* Did not fund research projects in this call