Interview with Emilio J. González Sánchez, lecturer at ETSIAM-University of Córdoba. Coordinator of LIFE Innocereal EU
How and when was the LIFE Innocereal EU project born?
LIFE Innocereal EU is born in 2022 from the need to respond to the environmental, economic and social challenges facing cereal cultivation in Europe. Today there is a great disconnection between all the links in the cereal value chain in Europe, which makes it difficult to comply with the 2030 climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies set out in the green agreements (i.e. European Green Pact, Farm to Fork Strategy and Biodiversity 2030, among others). In order to meet the challenges towards a circular and carbon neutral industry, we must recognise the importance of production chains as they are vital for food security, for the sustainability of agriculture and for poverty reduction. This is where the project will offer applicable and field-recognizable solutions.
What are your goals?
The overall objectives of LIFE Innocereal EU focus on two pillars:
1. Connecting all links in the cereal value chain by promoting environmental quality labelling that provides greater added value to the final product (bread, pasta and beer).
2. Improve the sustainability of cereal production by implementing a range of good agricultural practices and digital farming techniques to improve farm management and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
What techniques will be used during the project?
The innovative and cross-cutting solutions provided by LIFE Innocereal EU will be wide-ranging. In brief:
1. To encourage the implementation of sustainable management and good practices such as digital and conservation agriculture based on direct sowing, permanent soil cover, crop rotation, among others, demonstrating the increase of organic matter in the soil and biodiversity as an indicator of improved soil health, in line with the requirements of the eco-schemes of the new CAP, as suggested by the European Commission in January 2021. Living labs will be carried out during 3 crop cycles on 280 ha in Spain, distributed between the Rabanales pilot farm of the University of Cordoba (100 ha) and the rest in 6 farms in Andalusia, Castilla La Mancha and Castilla Leon. Knowledge transfer will be carried out with replication agents in farms located in Portugal, Italy and Greece, covering approx. 500 ha.
2. To train farmers and produce a manual of good practices for cereals, together with other informative materials, organise technical conferences and training courses, as well as events and meetings to promote the creation of policies to support this type of agriculture, including different audiences that can benefit from these actions, considering the entire sector.
3. To develop an alert system as a tool to help control crops on farms that, based on satellite images, predictions based on big data and machine learning, is capable of assessing the existing variability of farms and the changes that are occurring in the crop and what these are due to, sending warnings to farmers prior to the appearance of the problem and advising on how to act. At the same time, work will be carried out with the processing industry, flour, malting, semolina, bakeries, breweries and the pasta industry, to find out their cereal needs in terms of varieties and quality, encouraging farmers to grow what the industry needs.
4. Develop an innovative prototype for weed control with NIR technology where sensors identify where weeds appear, applying phytosanitary products only where they are detected. Minimising the use of herbicides, offering an optimised dose on demand in the plots, avoiding overdosage and the contamination of aquifers and surface water.
5. Promote the use of certified seed cereal varieties resulting from research into genetic improvement and technology, which is transferred to the field and is a guarantee of quality, traceability and homogeneity. The tests will serve to guarantee breeders, multipliers, farmers and the rest of the value chain, that the seed has been inspected and verified from its origin, during its production process in the field, its conditioning, in accordance with the strict quality standards established.
6. To develop a low-emission cereal certification system demonstrating the improvement and competitiveness of cereal producers, increasing farm profitability, and facilitating market integration and entry at all levels, both local and national. This will promote a production quality scheme focused on the direct needs of the cereal industry, thus favouring the orientation of profitable and sustainable production towards market and societal requirements.
Which of the SDGs is LIFE Innocereal committed to?
The combined effect of the actions of this project will contribute to several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mainly SDG 8, Decent Work and Growth, SDG 12, Sustainable Consumption and Production, SDG 13, Climate Action, SDG 15, Life on Land.
SDG targets related to LIFE Innocereal EU:
SDG 8: 8.4. Progressively improve global resource efficient production and consumption by 2030 and aim to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in line with the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, starting with developed countries.
SDG 12: 12.2. By 2030, achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. 12.4. Achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and land in order to minimise their adverse effects on human health and the environment.
SDG 13: 13.1. Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related risks and natural disasters in all countries. 13.3. Improve education, awareness and human and institutional capacity for climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
SDG15: 15.6. Promote the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to genetic resources, as internationally agreed.
To what extent is there a need for a transition to low-emission cereal production in the European area? Why is this necessary?
Climate change is already here, so we must mitigate it, as well as adapt to it. Due to the large number of hectares of cereal crops in Spain and Europe, helping farmers to reduce their CO2 emissions in the production of these crops can lead to substantial emissions savings in the agricultural sector.
What lines are you working on in the LIFE Innocereal EU project?
In this sense, we are focusing our efforts on the implementation of conservation agriculture, accompanied by precision techniques, as we believe this is the best strategy to accelerate the necessary transition towards climate neutrality, increasing soil organic carbon while optimising the use of inputs. The challenges are great, given that the conventional system is deeply rooted, and any change entails risk. Fortunately, farmers in Spain will have the support of the direct sowing eco-regime, which starts in this year’s CAP, and which is aligned with what we are doing in the project.
What are the entities involved in the project?
The project consortium has collaborated in different LIFE projects and previous operational groups, which have served as the germ for the development of this initiative. Led by the ETSIAM-University of Cordoba, the project partners include the Spanish Association for Conservation Agriculture Living Soils (AEACSV), the Spanish Association of Cereal Technicians (AETC), Agrifood, Greenfield, the Andalusian Institute for Agricultural Research and Training of the Andalusian Regional Government (IFAPA) and the European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF). In addition, there is a very relevant participation of companies and organisations from the sector, which will guarantee an optimal transfer of the results: Cooperativas Agrarias de España, Cuétara, Gallo, Harinas Polo, Heineken-Hesa, Intermalta, Limagrain, Monbake, Okin, Pao De Gimonde, Sipcam, Tarazona.
Finally, what initial actions are currently underway?
The project is organised in work packages, and we are currently developing several of them. We are finalising the list of good agricultural practices that will be applied in the selected farms within the national and international network. In addition, we are characterising parameters that will be useful to see the evolution of the project’s sustainability indicators.