Safeguarding our soils
As the EIP-AGRI Network has become part of the EU CAP Network, this website will no longer be updated after 1 April 2023. It will remain available in a static form as a reference of all previous EIP-AGRI activities. All interactive features such as the login, the main search function of the website, and the advanced filtering of the databases (e.g. project database and collaborative areas) will no longer be available. You will find all the new and up-to-date information on the EU CAP Network website.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
| Geographical scope | European Union |
| Keywords | soil microbial biomass carbon content operational group soil-borne disease salinisation soil soil fertility soil organic matter (SOM) soil quality contamination |
“It is impossible to overestimate the importance of soil. The EIP-AGRI connects available soil knowledge with innovative solutions that work in practice. [It helps] EU farmers and foresters to become effective stewards of this common good” – Janusz Wojciechowski in the EIP-AGRI magazine from 2020.
Life on Earth depends on healthy soils. Soil is the foundation of our food systems. It provides clean water and habitats for biodiversity while contributing to climate resilience. It supports our cultural heritage and landscapes and is the basis of our economy and prosperity.
Did you know the EIP-AGRI has done a lot of work on the topic of soil health? Browse the summary below.
To find out more about EIP-AGRI soil related activities, follow the hashtag #EIPagriSoil on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Find a summary of the highlights of the social media campaign from 2019 here.
Check out the EIP-AGRI Newsletter edition 101 from March 2022 which is dedicated to soil-health issues. We also have previous editions on the same topic October 2020 and November 2019.
You can also watch many videos related to soil-health from the EIP-AGRI network members on this YouTube playlist.
World Soil Day is held every year on 5 December. It aims to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
EIP-AGRI Focus Groups
EIP-AGRI Focus Groups are temporary groups of selected experts focusing on a specific subject, sharing knowledge and experience. Several of them have worked on soil-related issues, click on each link below to find reports, factsheets and more:
- Fertiliser efficiency - Focus on horticulture in open field
- Grazing for Carbon
- IPM practices for soil-borne diseases suppression in vegetables and arable crops
- Mainstreaming precision farming
- Moving from source to sink in arable farming
- Nutrient recycling
- Organic farming - Optimising arable yields
- Profitability of permanent grassland
- Protecting agricultural soils from contamination
- Soil organic matter content in Mediterranean regions
- Soil salinisation
- Water & agriculture: adaptive strategies at farm level
- Digital tools for sustainable nutrient management
EIP-AGRI events
The EIP-AGRI holds workshops and seminars on specific topics. Click on each link to find reports, presentations and more from events related to soil:
- EIP-AGRI workshop 'Organic is Operational'
- EIP-AGRI Workshop: Connecting innovative projects: Water & Agriculture
- EIP-AGRI Workshop Cropping for the future: networking for crop rotation and crop diversification
- Agri-Innovation summit 2019
- EIP-AGRI Workshop "Small is smart" - Innovative solutions for small agricultural and forestry holdings
- EIP-AGRI Workshop Shaping the EU mission 'Caring for soil is caring for life'
- EIP-AGRI seminar: Healthy soils for Europe: sustainable management through knowledge and practice
- EIP-AGRI workshop ‘Towards carbon neutral agriculture’
EIP-AGRI publications
In addition to the Focus Group and event reports and factsheets, the EIP-AGRI Service Point has produced the following relevant publications:
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Climate-smart agriculture: Solutions for resilient farming and forestry
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Sustainable and resilient farming: Inspiration from agro-ecology
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Innovation for European forestry
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Sustainable livestock farming
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Organic is operational
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Water and Agriculture
- EIP-AGRI Brochure Soil organic matter matters
- EIP-AGRI Brochure IPM for Brassica
- EIP-AGRI Brochure on Innovative solutions for organic farmers in the EU - Optimising arable yields
- Agrinnovation magazine - Issue n° 7 - September 2020 – Focus on soils
- Agrinnovation magazine - Issue n° 6 - June 2019 (and previous magazines
EIP-AGRI Videos
Watch these videos on examples of soil-related initiatives from the EIP-AGRI network:
- AGRI challenge: reducing the plastic footprint of agriculture
- New ways to deal with soil salinisation in farming
- AGRI challenge: protecting soils from contamination
- AGRI challenge: soil fertility through carbon storage
- AGRI challenge: crop diversification in grassland
- AGRI challenge: soil salinisation
- AGRI challenge: organic farming
- Agroecology clip
Inspirational ideas from the network
Articles on examples of soil-related initiatives from the EIP-AGRI network:
- Improving soil biodiversity to reduce inputs (Spain)
- Biostimulants for sustainable agriculture
- Farmers tackling drought and flooding (Belgium)
- Farm data for water management of soils (Italy)
- Restoration of degraded forest areas (France)
- Recovering abandoned land in the Rioja Valley (Spain)
- Added value for agriculture and nature (Germany)
- Farmers collaborating for Living Soils (France)
- Arable cropping systems adapted to climate change (Germany)
- Improving soils in Montado ecosystems (Portugal)
- The Soil Box (Germany)
- Cover crops for quality soil in the Po river valley (Italy)
- Mycorrhiza fungi as green alternative for mineral fertilisers (Germany)
- Inishowen Upland Farmers project (Ireland)
- Market gardening (Austria)
- Italian table grape farmers cooperate to improve soil quality (Italy)
- Making rice cultivation resistant to soil salinisation (Spain)
- German Operational Group investigates effective application of Mycorrhiza as green alternative for mineral fertilisers (Germany)
- Looking after the soil to bring life and carbon back (Austria)
- Preserving soil organic matter and protecting water sources (Portugal)
- Inspirational ideas: Increasing farm profitability while cutting carbon emissions, a toolkit developed by farmers for farmers
- Agroecology for sustainable soils (France)
- A kit to improve soil biological activity (France)
- Cutting atmospheric carbon: a central role for soils (France)
- From great soil comes great food – a farmers’ story (France)
- Agroforestry- a win-win for nature and the farmer (Germany)
- Agro-industrial waste put to good use as biofertiliser (Italy)
- Biofertilisers to improve soil fertility (Italy)
- Nutrient spill overs for valuable fertiliser (Italy)
- Fertile Circularity (Netherlands)
- Crop diversification - multiple benefits for dairy farm (Netherlands)
- Precision farming- the right technology and sharing knowledge are key (Netherlands)
- Protecting soil organic carbon in Poland (Poland)
- A passion for permanent pasture (Portugal)
- A nature-based approach for Mediterranean ecosystems (Portugal)
- Finding new in the old, reviving former links between forest and agricultural land (Spain)
- Grazing management with a heart for soil health (UK)
EU mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe'
The EU mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe' is key for meeting the ambitions of the Green Deal, notably the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategy.
The Mission leads the transition towards healthy soils by
funding an ambitious research and innovation programme with a strong social science component
- putting in place an effective network of 100 living labs and lighthouses to co-create knowledge, test solutions and demonstrate their value in real-life conditions
- developing a harmonised framework for soil monitoring in Europe
- raising people’s awareness on the vital importance of soils
Horizon 2020 projects
- iSQAPER - Interactive Soil Quality Assessment in Europe and China for Agricultural Productivity and Environmental Resilience: website - CORDIS
- LANDMARK - LAND Management: Assessment, Research, Knowledge base: website - CORDIS
- SOILCARE - Soil Care for profitable and sustainable crop production in Europe: website - CORDIS
- Diverfarming - Crop diversification and low-input farming across Europe: from practitioners engagement and ecosystems services to increased revenues and chain organisation: website - CORDIS
- DiverIMPACTS - Diversification through Rotation, Intercropping, Multiple cropping, Promoted with Actors and value-Chains Towards Sustainability: website - CORDIS
- FAirWAY - Farm systems that produce good Water quality for drinking water supplies: website - CORDIS
- WATERPROTECT - Innovative tools enabling drinking WATER PROTECTion in rural and urban environments: website - CORDIS
- BEST4SOILS - Boosting 4 BEST practices for SOIL health in Europe: website CORDIS other info (Thematic network)
- EXCALIBUR - Exploiting the multifunctional potential of belowground biodiversity in horticultural farming: website - CORDIS
- SoildiverAgro - Soil biodiversity enhancement in European agroecosystems to promote their stability and resilience by external inputs reduction and crop performance increase: CORDIS
- CIRCASA – Developing international synergies concerning research and knowledge exchange in the field of carbon sequestration in agricultural soils at European Union and global levels, with the active engagement of all relevant stakeholders: website - CORDIS
- NUTRIMAN – Developing an online Farmer Platform presenting novel technologies and solutions to facilitate the switch from chemical-processed mineral fertilisers to safe biofertilisers at lower cost: website - CORDIS
- EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme - AGG-REST-WEB project and IDESoWa project
- European Research Council (ERC) project DormantMicrobes
- Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation project SIEUSOIL: Sino-EU Soil Observatory for intelligent Land Use Management: website - EIP-AGRI database
More relevant multi-actor projects and thematic networks here.
Other
- DG AGRI’s AgriResearch factsheet on Soils
- Soil search on the EIP-AGRI database of Operational Groups
Publication date:
Thursday, 7 November, 2019 - 17:45
