SEAwise will address the key challenge preventing implementation of a fully operational European Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management: the need to increase fisheries benefits while reducing ecosystem impact under environmental change and increasing competition for space. The SEAwise network of stakeholders, advisory bodies and scientists will co-design key priorities and approaches to provide an open knowledge base on European Social-Ecological Fisheries Systems. SEAwise will innovate the prediction of social indicators of small-scale fisheries, coastal communities, carbon footprint and human health benefits. Using these indicators in fisheries models will help give advice on economically effective and socially acceptable governance under climate change, productivity changes, and the landing obligation. SEAwise will link the first ecosystem-scale assessment of maritime activities’ impacts on habitats with the fish stocks they support. Using ecosystem effects on fishing, including environmental metrics, density dependence, predation, stock health indicators and habitat extent will improve stock productivity predictions. Estimating effects of fishing on sensitive species, benthic habitats, food webs, biodiversity and litter allows evaluation of the mutual consistency of objectives for ecological and social systems. Multispecies-multifleet models will provide ecosystem forecasts of the effect of fisheries management measures. SEAwise will identify the simplest possible combination of management measures and investigate portfolio diversification as an approach for managing ecosystem resilience and climate adaptation. SEAwise tools and courses for ICES, GFCM, stakeholders and decision makers will ensure that these methods can be used directly in Mediterranean, western European, North Sea and Baltic Sea waters. The predictions will inform an online advice tool highlighting stock- and fisheries-specific social and ecological effects and management trade-offs.

The risk of mycotoxins is a global issue that represents a serious risk for human and animal health. Οchratoxin A (OTA) is a very toxic mycotoxin that constitutes a severe problem for viticulture and taking into account the extreme climatic events that are frequently faced in recent years, the OTA problem is arising in wine and raisins/currants. OchraVine Control project will offer an inexistent innovative, sustainable and integrated smart ICT solution (OchraVine Control DSS) considering fungal, host and environmental indicators that affect OTA contamination along the vine grape-wine value chain. The OchraVine Control DSS will allow prediction and monitoring at pre- and post-harvest level to control Aspergillus infection and OTA contamination in vine cultivation by combining epidemiological data, biological and chemical management strategies, post-havrest technologies and precision agriculture tools. OchraVine Control DSS solution will pursue a field-to-fork approach and will link and translate the information derived from the OchraRisk and OchraDetect predictive map tools and real data obtained during the monitoring controls by the OchraSensor. OchraVine Control DSS tool will be placed in an open access web platform and in combination with data from the OchraRed Integrated Management Strategy will provide risk prediction information (i.e. geographic OTA vine alerts), practical recommended solutions for OTA management and will verify the compliance with legislation requirements in a rapid and cost-effective way. The project will have a multi-actor international approach involving 3 RTDs and 5 SMEs that will exchange skills and knowledge and will all have a vital role in the design of the solutions, implementation, testing, dissemination, communication and economic exploitation.

InnoFoodAfrica will explore climate-smart African crops (cereal-pulse-rootInnoFoodAfrica will explore climate-smart African crops (cereal-pulse-root crop-fruit) in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. The project will develop and demonstrate optimal solutions for cultivation practices, processing and productization towards new value chains, thus enhancing nutritionally balanced food consumption in urban Africa and creating opportunities to reach international markets. The main output is to demonstrate the huge potential of the African crops as healthy ingredients in combating both malnutrition. The emphasis is to target vulnerable groups, such as malnourished children, pregnant women and adults under the risk of obesity, by increasing the diversity of affordable, nutrient-dense and healthy food products based on local crops, and educating people for improved eating habits. The project will address key bottlenecks of African food value chains - low productivity, limited access to urban markets, affordability and convenience of end products - by tailoring actions on local context to develop novel technologies in agriculture, food manufacturing and use of residual biomass for packaging, and concurrently to investigate food safety, food security and food loss reduction. Trainings, targeted especially women, will be organized in all four African countries. The trainings include e.g. farming productivity of indigenous crops, effective post-harvest technologies, valorization of biomass residue materials, nutritional guiding, and entrepreneurial skills. The project will also foster international cooperation with other EU-Africa and inter-African projects (FNSSA) e.g. by organising common conferences or workshops, technology transfer and training videos. The project is designed by a strong multidisciplinary consortium of 20 partners, dominated by 15 African actors from all four focus countries with deep understanding of local needs, and supported by 5 European partners.

To face human population growth, increasing environmental constraints and changes in socio-cultural values, animal breeding must evolve toward a more sustainable model that guarantees production while promoting efficient resource use, animal health and welfare, and preserving genetic diversity. Thanks to recent developments in omics technologies, it is now possible to rethink breeding, taking advantage of improved knowledge on genome-to-phenome relationships that accounts for both genetic and non-genetic mechanisms controlling traits. GEroNIMO will work on chicken and pig, the most used sources of animal protein worldwide, to provide breeders with new knowledge and tools to promote innovative genome- and epigenome enabled selection methods for traits related to production (quantity and quality), efficiency, productive longevity, fertility, resilience and welfare. A large number of animals from cosmopolitan and local breeds will be characterized phenotypically, genetically and epigenetically under different environments to i) identify underlying biological mechanisms affecting trait variation, ii) develop methods to improve selection strategies integrating genetic- and non-genetic factors, and iii) propose strategies to optimize the conservation of genetic and epigenetic diversity. GEroNIMO proposes demand-driven innovation employing a multi-actor approach through the involvement of breeders, professional associations of animal production, and scientists, engaged from the planning phase to the dissemination of results over Europe. GEroNIMO will build on existing academic and commercial knowledge and will analyze large populations to quantify the contribution of genetic and epigenetic variation in gene expression, trait variation and trade-offs between traits. GEroNIMO will also propose a comprehensive and enhanced characterization of diversity by integrating epigenetic diversity into conservation purposes, corresponding to a new integrated conservation strategy.

OPTIMA will develop an environmentally friendly IPM framework for vineyards, apple orchards and carrots by providing a holistic integrated approach which includes all critical aspects related to integrated disease management, such as i) novel bio-PPPs use, ii) disease prediction models, iii) spectral early disease detection systems and iv) precision spraying techniques. It will contribute significantly to the reduction of the European agriculture reliance on chemical PPPs resulting in reduced use of agrochemicals, lower residues and reduced impacts on human health. OPTIMA will optimize disease prediction models for downy mildew in vineyards, apple scab in apple orchards and alternaria leaf blight in carrots to envisage faster the possibility of disease outspread and developing advanced early detection methods based on spectral imaging and deep learning techniques to precisely localise and quantify the infection. It will evaluate and screen biological and synthetic PPPs for their combined ability to control the selected diseases and weigh the optimum dosage and application timing and identifying and characterize induced host resistance mechanisms to achieve higher and durable resistance. It will enhance and develop three innovative prototype sprayers (for carrots, apple orchards and vineyards) actuating different nozzle types and adopting variable rate control based on canopy characteristics, the pathogen dispersal and disease development. The holistic developed IPM system will be tested and assessed in field conditions with the three selected crops. The advanced sprayer prototypes and the monitoring system will be tested in real-time to record field efficacy and potential discrepancies from the expected effectiveness. OPTIMA will finally, assess health, environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the proposed IPM system in comparison to conventional systems using an extended Life-Cycle approach integrated with Human and Environmental Risk Assessment.