The overall aim of OK-Net EcoFeed is to help farmers, breeders and the organic feed processing industry in achieving the goal of 100% use of organic and regional feed for monogastrics, in particular pigs, broilers, laying hens and parents of broilers and laying hens. In the last two decades, the market for organic food has shown steady vigorous growth in most parts of Europe and this growth is still accelerating. A key objective of organic farming is the closing of nutrient cycles, but it is difficult to achieve. To a large extent, feed and livestock production, in particular of pigs and poultry, are concentrated in different regions, and animal feed (especially proteins) has to be imported from regions far away. In addition, organic organic farmers have difficulties in sourcing protein feed of organic quality. The lack of organic and regional feed threatens both the sustainability of organic agriculture as well as consumers’ confidence. In order to contribute to the goal of 100% use of organic and regional feed for monogastrics, OK-Net EcoFeed has 4 specific objectives: • The project will synthesize the scientific and practical knowledge available about organic and regional feed production for monogastrics; • It will create a European network of innovation groups to facilitate exchange and co-creation of knowledge among farmers, business actors, researchers and advisors; • It will collect end-user material and develop new tools adapted to the needs of farmers and business actors. All material and tools will be summarised in the EIP common format for practice abstracts. • Finally, the project will extend the OK-Net knowledge platform (farmknowledge.org) to include the topic of monogastric animal feed. The project will build on the experiences of OK-Net Arable, which is a thematic network addressing organic arable cropping. OK-Net EcoFeed is a logic continuation of OK-Net Arable, making the bridge between feed cultivation over feed processing to animal production.

The EU is the leading region for the production of organic fruits, with a rapidly expanding production and a demand for organic products which grows every year. However, at the same time, the amount and value of organic imports from outside the EU is increasing. For organic fruit farmers in the EU this poses a challenge to succeed in an increasingly competitive market. In addition, organic fruit growing is a very demanding farming activity. This is because, the sector faces specific problems that cannot be solved using conventional approaches based on the use of synthetics substances. As organic fruit growers cannot rely on synthetic inputs, many of them have, on a local level, developed competitive strategies to improve plant health. Moreover, there is considerable research on improving organic fruit growing systems. The problem, however, is that this knowledge is not easily accessible to farmers all over Europe and remains either locally known or only available in the scientific sphere. The sector is in need of a network focused on organic fruit production that bridges the gap between science and practice and makes locally found solutions available to other fruit growers in Europe. Therefore, the specific objectives of BioFruitNet are: 1) Collect and synthesize existing knowledge ready for practise, 2) Create a stable European innovation network, 3) Strengthen established networks, 4) Widely distribute solutions, 5) Extend the Organic Farm Knowledge Platform. To achieve these objectives, we will first carry a thorough mapping exercise to find relevant networks at national level in partner countries and beyond (WP1). Then, compile all existing practical and scientific knowledge relevant to organic fruit farmers (WP2) and select the best practices (WP3). We will then focus on adapting and translating all best practices in an easy-to-understand format like practice abstracts (WP4) and disseminate the information through high impact channels (WP5).

The overall objective of RELACS is to foster development and facilitate adoption of cost-efficient and environmentally safe tools and technologies, to phase out the dependency on and use of contentious inputs in organic farming systems. RELACS will reduce the use of copper and mineral oil , manure from conventional farms, provide alternatives to excessive use of anthelmintics in small ruminants, reduce antibiotic use in dairy cattle and moderate reliance on synthetic vitamins in cattleand poultry production. To pursue this aim, (i) RELACS will provide a comprehensive overview of the current use of and critical evaluation of the need for external inputs in organic plant and animal production. We aim to (ii) bring far developed (TRL≥6) alternatives to copper, mineral oils, and anthelmintics to the market, (iii) extend the use of farmer-driven techniques to reduce antibiotics to a wider range of EU regions, and (iv) develop and explore innovative approaches to reduce synthetic vitamin use and propose acceptable vitamin and plant nutrition sources, based on thorough systems analysis and R&D. (v) The products and management practices will be evaluated in different pedo-climatic and farming conditions in the EU and Mediterranean third countries. (vi) RELACS will develop implementation roadmaps by analysis of the socio-economic conditions required for acceptance and adoption of alternatives and provide scientific support for relevant EU policies to develop fair, reliable and implementable rules. (vii) Rapid dissemination and adoption of techniques along the food value chain will be achieved via established dissemination structures in 12 European countries. RELACS builds on results of previous research projects and takes forward far advanced solutions. The multi-actor approach is the core of both, the consortium and the project, as RELACS was developed by involving actors and stakeholders from research, organic farmers, advisors and industry from the start.

DARWIN aims to contribute to a fair, healthy, safe and environmentally friendly food system by co-developing an innovative detection strategy by integrating targeted analytical PCR-based methods, untargeted sequencing methods, and digital solutions. A new generation of innovative and reliable DNA-based analytical detection methods, ranging from enhanced PCR methods for NGT detection, identification and quantification in single and multi-target systems, to untargeted sequencing methods related to whole-genome sequencing, laser capture microdissection-based sequencing and high throughput metagenomics sequencing for NGT screening and characterization. DARWIN will bring a cutting-edge approach developing genetic fingerprints using artificial intelligence to overcome challenges related to event-specific targeted methods, unambiguously identifying specific NGT lines. DARWIN also brings innovation in the new application of digital solutions such as data spaces and documentation-based screening to increase the data evidence to NGTs; blockchains to enable transparent and traceable detection along the food chain; AI models; and a Decision Support System to improve accuracy and support the selection of the best fit for purpose detection methods. DARWIN will reach TRL4-5 though validation including in-house, transferability and full trials, and presenting 3 cases representative of real situations relevant for NGT products in the EU agri-food market. After methods validation and the definition of a clear oriented detection strategy, DARWIN will theoretically extrapolate its finding to more complex scenarios encountering the diversity of NGT lines and food products that might reach EU markets. All this, under an interdisciplinary co-creation ecosystem based on Responsible Research and innovation (RRI) principals, empowering a wide variety of stakeholders - including consumers - in Europe and internationally; and robustly contributing to the policy making.