On 6 October, during the online Synergy Label Award Ceremony open event, BBI JU awarded the Synergy Label to nine project proposals from the 2019 Call for proposals, including FVA new media research new project RISING –pRoduction and validation of bIo-Stimulants and bio-pestIcides for sustaiNable aGriculture.RISING intends to demonstrate and validate on the field in 3 different pedoclimatic European areas, a set of cost-competitive, safe, bio-based stimulants and pesticides. They will be sourced from bio-waste, underutilized agriculture by-products and crops from marginal lands and used in specifically developed targeted farming strategies. The project will combine 3 innovations: i) new cost competitive biorefinery processes for the production of bio-based biostimulants and bio-pesticides ii) new insights on the mode of action of these bio-products, iii) integrated crop-management strategies, using the new cost-competitive bio-products in synergy with smart product customizations and application to optimise the use (and cost) of bio-products, while increasing yield and reducing environmental impact.
RISING will put farmers at the centre of the new development, through the involvement of farmers’ associations and the committed support by COPACOGECA, making farmers ambassadors of the new RISING developments. This will result in a reinforced alliance between biobased industry and farmers as key success factor for the development and adoption of new sustainable biobased products for agriculture.Future market uptake of RISING foresee production of cca 40,000ton/yr of bio-based products, able to treat 4.6% of EU-28 arable area, generating NPV €70/75M for 2 biorefineries and fertilizer companies, as well as relevant potential revenues for farmers, i.e. 200Mln€ from fertilizers use reduction due to biostimulants, 50-60Mln€ for cultivation of oil crops revitalizing marginal lands, and 150-200€/ton for feedstock valorization. The project promises to generate at least 300 jobs in 10 years. As such, RISING will not only make a significant contribution to ecologically and economically sustainable crop production systems, but will lay the cornerstone for a future large-scale sustainable European agriculture catalysed by biobased industry.
More info about the BBI Synergy Label can be found here.