LIFE Innocereal EU is setting its sights on attaining a carbon neutral cereal production and value chain in Europe through the use of best agricultural practices (BAP) and the development of new technologies designed to tackle four main areas:
1. Improve the sustainability of cereal production through the use of BAP and digital agriculture to enhance farm management and reduce GHG emissions
2. Address the disconnection in the cereal production chain between the primary sector, grain processing facilities, and grain distribution and retail sale
3. Improve environmental sustainability and mitigate GHG emissions
4. Enhance the economic return of grain farms
The general objectives focus on two pillars:
1. Connect all links of the cereal value chain by promoting labels for environmental excellence that confer added value to the final product (bread, pasta and beer)
2. Improving the sustainability of cereal production through the implementation of GAP and digital agriculture to improve farm management and reduce GHG emissions
While the specific goals are:
1. Create an ecosystem throughout the entire cereal production chain which would allow the adoption of innovative techniques and good practices across the chain, from producer, to agricultural organizations, to processing plants and distribution (WP3/5)
2. Develop a quality and sustainability certification scheme to improve the competitiveness of producers of soft wheat, durum wheat and barley, not only by increasing the profitability of operations, but also by guaranteeing a quality scheme that adds value to sustainability produced cereal, distributing this additional added value evenly across the entire chain. (WP3)
3. Reduce the carbon footprint of European cereal production by adopting sustainable agricultural systems that increase soil carbon sequestration and decrease greenhouse gas emissions, while improving soil health and increasing biodiversity. (WP4)
4. Increase the economic profitability of soft wheat, durum wheat and barley production operations by promoting innovation through the use of technological tools and the application of sustainable and digital agricultural practices, and helping to channel production to meet market and societal demands by creating a quality label that would provide added value to the product. (WP3/4)
5. Improve understanding of soft wheat, hard wheat and barley varietals for better climate adaptation, hardier production, and optimum response to the different seasonal climate events that occur in participating countries, which would help to enhance and strengthen yield, and by extension, the profitability of agricultural operations. (WP3)
6. Raise awareness at the European level of the economic and environmental benefits these systems provide for cereal production. Promote support policies which would endorse the use of BAP in the eco-schemes of the future common agricultural policy (CAP), and which would also permit lobbying in the EC with the aim of promoting these systems and enhancing their applicability and protection through new agricultural policies. (WP6)
7. Develop a communication plan, including a manual of best agricultural practices, which would aid in the adoption of innovation through training, not only for agricultural workers, but for all links in the cereal production chain and society in general. (WP2/6)
8. Develop a close-to-market project that would demonstrate replication potential at a European level to ensure that demand could be met without damaging soil or aquifers, while preventing price hikes that would limit the accessibility of cereals and grains for all levels of society. (WP5)