Periodic Reporting for period 4 - Diverfarming (Crop diversification and low-input farming across Europe: from practitioners engagement and ecosystems services to increased revenues and chain organisation)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-05-01 bis 2022-10-31
Diverfarming aims of increasing diversification and biodiversity in Europe and fostering sustainable development of bioeconomy. Diverfarming will increase the long-term resilience, sustainability and economic revenues of agriculture across the EU by assessing the real benefits and minimising the limitations, barriers and drawbacks of diversified cropping systems using low-input practices that are tailor-made to fit the unique characteristics of six EU pedoclimatic regions, and by adapting and optimising the downstream value chains organization through executing field case studies. This approach will provide: i) increased overall land productivity; ii) more rational use of farm land and farming inputs (water, energy, machinery, fertilisers, pesticides); ii) improved delivery of ecosystem services by increments in biodiversity and soil quality; iii) proper organization of downstream value chains adapted to the new diversified cropping systems with decreased use of energy; and iv) access to new markets and reduced economy risks by adoption of new products in time and space.
The outputs of Diverfarming are: Decision Support Tool "SusDiver" (RP4), Guidelines for sustainable diversified cropping systems (RP4), Protocol for the correct implementation of diversified systems (RP4), Methodological guidelines and toolbox for value chain adaptation (RP4), Qualified machinery prototype for intercropping (RP4), Communities of Practitioners as volunteer early adopter farmers and agribusinesses recruited to develop diversified cropping systems in their farming systems as real scenarios, and ensure longevity beyond the project (RP2); White Paper to scientifically support relevant policies (RP4).
The potential impacts of the project are: a) higher arable land productivity, and land-equivalent ratio, b) diversification and increase of farmers’ revenues by access to new markets and reduced economic risk, c) lower environmental impact of diversified cropping systems, d) improved delivery of ecosystem services, e) organization of resource-efficient value chains and decreased use of energy, f) market provision of food, feed and industrial products from diversified cropping systems, g) increased awareness and knowledge exchanges among actors, h) support to relevant EU policies, i) territorial cohesion benefits from enhanced agricultural productivity and more resilient agricultural holdings, j) strengthening of the competitiveness of a range of companies and organizations active in the value chain and bioeconomy, by creating opportunities for growth and new job positions. These impacts have been validated in RP4, with the identification of possible barriers, drawbacks and trade-offs.