Europe’s farms need to maintain food production and remain competitive, but they also need to be more sustainable, becoming a solution to climate change and biodiversity loss. The answer may lie in the traditional knowledge of Hungarian herders or the ancient technique of intercropping, but also in transformative, innovative farming practices. 

—

Farms have been a key part of Europe’s territorial and social organisation for centuries. Over one-third of the European Union’s land is devoted to agriculture and livestock, producing hundreds of millions of tonnes of food per year. However, according to the European Environmental Agency, the future ahead looks challenging, as farming has also led to biodiversity loss, water overconsumption, soil degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions.

As a result, Europe’s farms are being pulled in two directions: they need to maintain food production and remain competitive while simultaneously also needing to be more sustainable and become a key part of the solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss. That’s no small challenge.

An increasing number of researchers are looking for innovative answers as well as for ancient solutions, working closely with farmers and herders to study how traditional and new techniques may help them meet the demands of the future.

You might also like: NUTRI-KNOW: An EU Project to Encourage the Uptake of New Nutrient Management Practices at Farm Level

Using Biodiversity to Our Advantage

More than half a million hectares of Hungary’s territory are ‘high nature value’  grasslands – agricultural areas dominated by semi-natural plants supporting biodiversity. Over thousands of years, herbivores have shaped the ecosystem of these plains. Before agriculture, many of them were already grazed by mammoths. This means grazing these Hungarian grasslands now helps to conserve them and their ecosystem services.

That is where traditional herders come into action. 

“Traditional knowledge is not learned in school. It’s not learned from books, but from real life and from nature. However, scientists and conservationists have often undervalued such knowledge,” explained Zsolt Molnár, botanist at the Centre for Ecological Research (Ecolres), which is one of the research partners for the BIOTraCes project.

Through nine case studies, this research project aims to develop knowledge, tools, and novel approaches that encourage a more nature-positive society. In the Hungarian case, this means breaking down the barriers between traditional knowledge, science, and decision-makers.

“Most of the biodiversity-rich grasslands in Hungary is patchy. So, if you want to manage it properly and protect it, you have to move your animals properly. A fencing system places the animals in paddocks and they go wherever they want. But if you have herders, they know how to direct the herd, how to portion the pasture sustainably, and how to lead the animals through diverse foods on the patchy pasture,” said Molnár. “The knowledge of herders is important for conservation. And it’s also the only way this land can produce food.”

“Traditional knowledge is a huge knowledge base. And if we aim for a transformative change, we need as much knowledge as we can have. Herders deserve respect and justice from society, which they currently don’t receive”, he added.

The Power of Combining Crops

Traditional knowledge could hold the answers to some of agriculture’s complex challenges, and that extends to crop farming too. Plants have the power to transform sunlight into food for the rest of living beings on the planet, and also release a great diversity of chemical compounds into the soil through their roots and thus interact with life below ground.

One of the most important elements is nitrogen, which plants use as a major component of chlorophyll (an essential pigment for photosynthesis) and to build amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). No plant can survive without nitrogen, which is why farms across the EU use nearly 10 million tonnes of nitrogen fertiliser every year.

However, there’s a family of plants that has the ability to fix nitrogen from the air. By partnering with bacteria, leguminous plants such as peas and lentils are able to transform nitrogen into ammonia, a compound that is useful for both the legumes and other plants growing nearby. Agriculture also benefits from this relationship. “By growing legumes together with cereals we reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, and we increase soil health and diversity,” pointed out Shamina Imran Pathan, lecturer and researcher at Università degli Studi di Firenze, coordinator of the Leguminose project, which studies the benefits of an ancient technique called intercropping.

“Intercropping is a multi-cropping technique that involves cultivating a minimum of two plants simultaneously in the same field,” explained the researcher. This method of farming can increase crop yields by up to 20% and improve soil health, which then reduces the need for synthetic fertilisers by up to 50%. Intercropping can also increase biodiversity, enhancing the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change.

The Leguminose project is assessing the potential of intercropping to become a mainstream technique in Europe’s farms (currently, only 2% of European arable land is used for legume-cereal intercropping). It is also establishing a network of 180 on-farm living labs in different pedoclimatic zones (a microclimate within soil) across Europe, Egypt, and Pakistan, to overcome the barriers to intercropping implementation.

“So far, we’ve found that the main barriers are lack of awareness and the challenges of implementing an efficient harvesting system for different species,” added Shamina Imran Pathan. “Intercropping is still used in many parts of Africa, Asia and America. But in Europe this knowledge has been mostly forgotten.”

Read more about the Leguminose project here: Intercropping: An EU Sustainable Solution through Traditional Agriculture

Bringing Transformative Knowledge to Every Farm

Humans have been farming the land for at least 12,000 years, a period over which huge amounts of traditional knowledge have been piling up. Over the last decades, the number of new, innovative farming practices has also been growing. Today, under the agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI) initiative, there are more than 3,000 projects looking for innovative solutions for agriculture and forestry. 

Ancient and new knowledge can work together so that agriculture can keep feeding the world as it becomes more sustainable. But all this knowledge does not always reach the practitioners, both in farms and forests.

“Successful innovation in the agri-food sector requires the collaboration of multiple actors, such as farmers, researchers, companies, public administration, non-governmental organizations, and society,” said Víctor Carbajal, strategic project responsible at BETA Technological Centre from the Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC) in Spain.

Carbajal also coordinates NUTRI-KNOW, a European project that will gather the findings from 12 research projects in the field of nutrient management across Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Belgium, and increase their reach. Its goal is to encourage farms to adopt innovative nutrient management practices.

“We need the circularisation of knowledge, which involves breaking down traditional barriers to knowledge transfer, where information flows linearly from experts to end-users,” said Carbajal. “Instead, we seek to create a continuous cycle of knowledge exchange, where the different actors involved can share their experiences, research, and lessons learned, compiling, translating and sharing knowledge in an easy-to-understand and ready-to-practice way.”

All the partners of the NUTRI-KNOW project are currently working – among other actions – on building a community of practice as an accessible, informative platform to share learnings, new technologies and best farming practices that will be consulted by farmers, professionals, public administration and researchers and industry.

Powerful answers may be hidden in the past, in the traditional practices of Hungarian herders, or in the ancient techniques of intercropping, but also in disruptive science and innovation. However, if knowledge doesn’t flow in every direction, reaching farmers, scientists, companies, and administrations, its true transformative value will remain buried.

You might also like: NOMAD: An EU Project for Sustainable Agriculture Development

The post Europe’s Agricultural Future May Lie in Both Innovative and Ancient Farming Practices appeared first on Earth.Org.

As concerns about the availability of fertilisers in the future keep rising, research and innovation on managing practices, technologies, products, and recommendations for Europe’s agriculture have also grown exponentially over the last decade. The EU-funded NUTRI-KNOW project aims to push for the adoption of new nutrient management practices at farm level.
—

For decades, agriculture has been relying heavily on nitrogen and phosphorus. However, the way we have been managing them is far from sustainable.

In 2021, 10.9 million tonnes of mineral, nitrogen, and phosphorus-based fertilisers were used in agricultural production in the European Union, according to Eurostat figures. Only a portion of these fertilisers remained within the food production cycle while the rest was wasted, polluting air and water and resulting in significant economic losses to farmers.

Worldwide 65% of the nitrogen applied by farmers runs off into rivers, lakes, and natural environments. Research estimates that the total societal cost of nitrate pollution from agriculture in the EU ranges between €61-215 billion (US$67.5-238 billion), equivalent to 0.5-1.8% of the bloc’s gross domestic product.

Over the last years, the scarcity of natural resources, and particularly the reduction in fossil fuel supplies, has also affected fertiliser production (down 70 % in the EU) and prices (up by 300 %). As the concerns about the availability of fertilisers in the future keep rising, it is crucial to improve nutrient management practices in agriculture.

Circulating Knowledge

Arklow is a small town in County Wicklow, on the southeast coast of Ireland. From there, over the last four years, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc) of the country has been studying how to solve some of Europe’s problems with nutrients and fertilisers.

“We have been focusing on displacing some of a crop’s chemical fertiliser needs by incorporating bio-based fertilisers into the crops nutrient management plan,” explained Aoife Egan, research officer at Teagasc, in an exclusive interview with Earth.Org.

“We have trialled cattle and pig slurry, poultry manure, and two types of dairy processing sludge. And we have followed the crop rotation set by the farm owner, which has included maize silage, spring wheat, oilseed rape, winter wheat, and spring beans.”

The research project in Arklow is not the only of its kind. Over the past years, a great amount of knowledge on managing practices, technologies, products, and recommendations in the primary sector has been developed by several EU-funded projects. But this knowledge has not properly reached the farms.

“We need to promote the circularisation of knowledge in the field of nutrient management. We need to share and disseminate information, experiences, and best practices related to nutrient management in a practical, open, and collaborative way,” Víctor Carbajal, strategic project responsible at BETA Technological Centre from the Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC) in Spain, pointed out.

Carbajal also coordinates NUTRI-KNOW, a new European project that sees the involvement of Teagasc. It will gather the findings from 12 research projects across Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Belgium and increase their reach. Its main goal is to encourage the uptake of new nutrient management practices at the farm level.

The Importance of Sustainable Nutrient Management Practices

The European CAP Network –a platform for improving the flow of knowledge about agriculture and rural policy in Europe – has carried out hundreds of specific projects in nutrient management in recent years. For instance, the BETA Technological Centre, together with agricultural cooperatives, has studied a new approach to concentrate slurry to reduce the costs of managing livestock waste.

The technology they used has been shown to concentrate over 85% of the total solids, 45% of the total nitrogen and 85% of the phosphorus. The process is cost-effective, minimises emissions, and reduces energy consumption, and has made converting livestock waste into a bio-based fertiliser economically viable. At a local scale, the benefits of sustainable nutrient management practices become evident.

“Expanding sustainable management practices in agriculture is crucial to optimise the use of resources, avoiding waste and reducing costs, promote environmental sustainability, increase agricultural productivity, ensure food security, and comply with regulations,” explained Víctor Carbajal. “Such improvements have significant environmental and economic benefits, contributing to the sustainability of agriculture and the well-being of rural communities.”

“Improving nutrient management in agriculture has a direct effect on the surrounding environment,” Aoife Egan added. “By making small changes on their farm and how they manage nutrients, they can increase biodiversity and reduce nutrient run-off into waterways, improving water quality and farm efficiency, profitability and overall sustainability.”

Connecting Farmers and Science

By 2050, the world will need to produce 60% more food than it does today, in order to feed a world population of 9.3 billion people, according to estimates compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In the context of global depletion of phosphorus (and potassium) reserves and strong reliance on fossil gas for nitrogen production, the agriculture system needs to look towards more sustainable fertiliser alternatives. But connecting the daily farmers’ routine and their practices with science to close the circle of innovation has proven to be difficult.

“To encourage farmers to move away from traditional mineral fertiliser practices and move towards more sustainable alternatives, it’s important that they hear about the positive experiences of using innovative solutions from their peers, and have easily understandable information available to them,” said Egan.

That’s why one of the final goals of the NUTRI-KNOW project is to share easy-to-understand and ready-to-practice knowledge and connect people and territories through a community of practice.

The objective is to establish an ongoing cycle of knowledge exchange, where the different actors involved, such as farmers, researchers, and other professionals in the field, can actively share their experiences, research findings, and lessons learned. Farmers and agricultural professionals will be able to share their experiences and challenges to look for effective solutions together with scientific experts.

“By promoting collaboration between actors, knowledge sharing, joint research and the creation of innovative solutions are facilitated,” concluded Carbajal. “This will drive the adoption of clean technologies, renewable energy, sustainable agricultural practices, and other developments that will contribute to overall sustainability.”

You might also like: NOMAD: An EU Project for Sustainable Agriculture Development

The post NUTRI-KNOW: An EU Project to Encourage the Uptake of New Nutrient Management Practices at Farm Level appeared first on Earth.Org.

The European Union is in talks with manufacturers to purchase new firefighting planes to battle the devastating wildfires that are spreading across Italy’s Sicily and Mainland Greece, fuelled by scorching heat and strong winds. 

—

The European Union is in talks with manufacturers to buy new firefighting planes to battle the intense wildfires that are wreaking havoc on Southern European countries including Greece and Italy, Reuters reported.

The plan is to double the current buy up to 12 new firefighting planes, the first the bloc would fully own, as well as another 12 to bolster member states’ own national fleets – including Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain – for an estimated cost of €23 million (US$25.5 million). The bloc doubled its reserve fleet last year amid a devastating wildfire season that exhausted its ability to respond to the emergency.

“These planes will be technically bought by the member states but they will be 100% financed by the European Union,” said EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič.

Europe Is Burning

The announcement comes as Europe battles another summer characterised by record temperatures, destructive floods, and other extreme weather events.

Three people died in Greece amid intense wildfires that on Sunday prompted the evacuation of 19,000 people from Rhodes – a popular destination among tourists from the UK, Germany, and France – over the hottest weekend the country has recorded in 50 years.

Firefighters and rescue teams from several European countries – including the UK, the Czech Republic, and Italy – were sent to the Aegean island to assist in the evacuation efforts. France and Turkey sent water-dumping planes to support 49 fire trucks and 266 firefighters. Flights to the island have also been suspended until Tuesday, with airlines struggling to arrange enough return flights to bring back tourists, according to the state-run Athens News Agency.

61 wildfires broke out across the nation in the last 24 hours alone,  with strong winds and temperatures above 40C (104F) providing perfect conditions for them to spread quickly. 

According to Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation programme, the intense wildfires burning in Greece since 17 July are the worst recorded since at least 2003 for the month of July. Emissions in the European nation also reached a historic high for the month of July.

The situation is worsening quickly also in the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters have been working incessantly to put out blazes. An elderly couple was found dead inside their burnt-out home on the outskirts of the region’s capital, Palermo, while another woman in her 80s died after wildfires prevented an ambulance to reach her home.

According to the latest data by Vigili del Fuoco, Italy’s institutional agency for fire and rescue service, more than 3,000 firefighters are currently working to put out more than 1,400 blazes across Sicily and the southern mainland region of Calabria.

You might also like: Record-Breaking Heatwave Strikes Italy, Prompting Red Alert in 16 Cities

The post EU Ramps Up Firefighting Planes Fleet As Climate Crisis in Southern Europe Intensifies appeared first on Earth.Org.