Farmers are the backbone of the global food system, but intensified agriculture to meet growing demands has led to significant soil degradation. Over 60% of EU soils are now deemed unhealthy, according to the European Commission.
Regenerative agriculture offers a solution by restoring soil health, improving biodiversity, and protecting climate and water resources, all while maintaining productivity. However, farmers need support to transition to these practices, including access to resources, financial incentives, tools to monitor soil health, and policies that prioritise sustainability.
The Horizon Europe-funded TUdi project unites 15 academic institutions and SMEs to develop and promote soil-restoring strategies across three major agricultural systems in Europe, China, and New Zealand. By integrating diverse partners and regions, TUdi aims to advance sustainable practices that restore soil health globally.
Within the scope of the project, nine multilingual leaflets have been developed so far to provide information and share findings on several topics:
- Improving soil structure to retain more soil moisture
- Gully control
- Nutrient loss by water movement, runoff and leaching
- Fertilisation management
- Technical measures for soil erosion control
- Soil protection and ecosystem services by hedgerows
- Erosion Control in potato production with in-furrow micro-dams and cover crops
- Detection of a higher form of erosion by remote sensing data
- Organic fertilisation using animal manures
The leaflets provide guidance on managing soil health within the scope of the listed topics. They cover various aspects of soil management, such as assessing soil structure stability, detecting erosion (including rills and gullies), and managing nutrient loss through water movement (runoff and leaching). As part of the TUdi project, an app has been developed to support farmers in these areas, offering tools for soil structure, erosion, and fertilisation management. Each leaflet outlines its focus area, identifies the associated problems, and explains how the TUdi app can assist in addressing them. The leaflets also include a detailed description of protective measures, the pros and cons of various techniques, and a section on their effects, results, and case studies.
Еach leaflet is now officially available in eight languages (English, German, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Czech), and can be found on TUdi’s website as well as on EU-FarmBook - a Horizon Europe project that has developed an online platform for the gathering and sharing of practical agricultural and forestry knowledge. The Chinese translations, however, are only available on the project website.
Stay tuned, as the project is expecting three more leaflets to be released soon!
Проектът "Преобразуване на неустойчиво управление на почвите в ключови селскостопански системи в Европейския съюз и Китай.
Разработване на интегрирана платформа за алтернативи за обръщане на деградацията на почвата" цели разработването на различни инструменти, които да подпомагат вземането на решения за управление на почвите и тяхното икономическо обосноваване. Има редица дейности, които могат да се предприемат, що се отнася до обръщане на деградацията на почвата, но в крайна сметка фермерите са тези, които трябва да виждат и икономическата полза от това. Така започна своята презентация гл. асистент доктор Екатерина Цветанова от Нов български университет, която е част от екипа по проекта, по време на научния симпозиум "Почвите и тяхното биоразнообразие", който се провежда днес зала "Проф. Марин Дринов" на Българската академия на науките (БАН), предаде БТА.
Това е първата среща от инициативата "Седмица на почвите", учредена в рамките на научен проект "Soils for Europe" (SOLO). Събитието се организира от Националния природонаучен музей на БАН и издателство "Пенсофт".
Целта на горепосочения проект е подобряване здравето на почвата чрез възстановяване и поддържане на високо качество на почвата за производството на храни. "Ежегодно провеждаме срещи със заинтересованите страни, на база на които взимаме обратната връзка, за да създадем инструменти, които наистина да бъдат използвани", посочи Цветанова, като добави, че има много създадени инструменти, но едно от основните предизвикателства е фермерите да припознаят тези инструменти като полезни и да ги направят част от своето ежедневие.
Първият работен пакет по проекта е създаване на мрежа от фермери за мониторинг, които подават информация за дългосрочните си експерименти.
В проекта са включени над 15-16 институции, всяка от които събира информация и тя има няколко насочености. Първата е да могат да се направят различни анализи на получените дългосрочни експерименти, да се извлече информация, а второто нещо е информацията да захрани инструменти за взимане на решения.
Този проект е насочен към пасища, трайни насаждения и производство на зърнени култури.
"Гордостта на проекта е, че успяваме да координираме процеси на различни континенти – в Китай, Нова Зеландия и някои страни от Европа. Смятаме, че бихме могли да извлечем значителни знания за всички включени страни, в това число и България, обменяйки опит с други професионалисти", каза Цветанова.
Вторият работен пакет е разделен на два етапа и два подпакета – първата част е насочена към идентифициране на стратегиите за възстановяване на почвата. Тук са предвидени анализи и данни, свързани с влошаване на почвеното плодородие и качеството на водата, проблеми с отводняването. Другият подпакет е свързан с устойчивото използване на торове. Към него в момента има 6 инструмента за вземане на решения, чрез които фермерът сам да може да прецени кое е устойчивото и да прилага практики за наторяване на почвата.
Третият пакет е свързан с различни практически решения за възстановяване на почвите, а четвъртият представлява анализ на разходите и ползите. "Тук правим анализ на икономическите, социалните и екологичните ползи в райони с основните селскостопански системи", уточни Цветанова.
Existen múltiples iniciativas integrales de la UE y China que reconocen el desafío de aumentar la producción agrícola para satisfacer la creciente demanda de alimentos saludables y sostenibles, conservando al mismo tiempo su recurso base: el suelo. Aunque el seguimiento y monitorización de la degradación de la calidad del suelo ha progresado, se han conseguido menos logros revirtiendo dicha degradación.
Alrededor de dos mil millones de personas y 1,9 mil millones de hectáreas de suelo se ven afectados por problemas de degradación en todo el Mundo, con un coste estimado para la economía global de entre 18 y 20 billones de dólares al año. La Comisión Europea estima que las prácticas de manejo actuales dan como resultado que aproximadamente entre el 60% y el 70% de los suelos de la UE sean insalubres, al que habría que añadir un porcentaje adicional incierto debido a problemas de contaminación mal cuantificados.
TUdi es un proyecto H2020 que tiene como objetivo desarrollar, mejorar y popularizar estrategias de restauración del suelo en tres sistemas (tierra cultivable, cultivos leñosos, pastos y praderas) y tipologías agrícolas (basadas en su manejo y gestión) en Europa, China y Nueva Zelanda. El proyecto pretende promover y desarrollar ecosistemas agrícolas saludables y productivos, tareas que se encuentran entre los objetivos de desarrollo más desafiantes de la ONU para 2030, incluidos el hambre cero, la eliminación de la pobreza, la acción climática y la vida en la Tierra.
Para ello, en TUdi participan 15 instituciones investigadoras y PYMEs de todo el mundo, así como una comunidad de 42 organizaciones de agentes y actores interesados que cooperan entre sí. Además, se ha establecido una red de 66 experimentos a largo plazo y explotaciones agrarias monitorizadas en los países participantes.
Más específicamente, los objetivos específicos de TUdi son:
Desde el comienzo de la participación de IFAPA en el proyecto TUdi, se ha involucrado activamente en todas las tareas en desarrollo de cada uno de los 5 paquetes de trabajo (WP):
WP1 Redes agrícolas en la UE y China y seguimiento a escala de finca.
En el WP1 se ha: 1) identificado y seleccionado un subconjunto de explotaciones comerciales para desarrollar programas de trabajo específicos dentro de otros WPs, basándose en diversos enfoques de gestión, incluida la agroecología; 2) diseñado y completado una base de datos accesible y funcional de explotaciones participantes y áreas experimentales con experiencias a largo plazo en el manejo de restauración de suelos. El principal resultado del WP1 será una metabase de datos común que permita el intercambio de información entre socios y participantes, que estará abierta fuera del consorcio al final del proyecto.
WP2 Herramientas de gestión agrícola para la salud del suelo.
Los objetivos del WP2 son: 1) proporcionar fundamentos científicos para desarrollar estrategias sólidas para la planificación e implementación de prácticas para mejorar la calidad de los suelos para la producción de alimentos y la prestación de servicios ecosistémicos; 2) aumentar la conciencia de los agricultores sobre cómo las opciones de fertilización afectan los cultivos y la salud del suelo; 3) proporcionar a los agricultores y otras partes interesadas herramientas sólidas de ayuda a la toma de decisiones, flexibles pero simples para poner en práctica prácticas de restauración de suelos y mejores prácticas de fertilización. El proyecto diseñará, probará y entregará un conjunto de herramientas que permitirán a los agricultores, técnicos, empresas y agentes gubernamentales llevar a cabo estrategias a nivel de finca adaptando las técnicas a las condiciones locales.
WP3 Integrar soluciones agrícolas para restaurar suelos degradados, interpretando el impacto en la salud del suelo.
Este WP tiene como objetivo desarrollar y probar métodos y estrategias para: 1) mejorar la salud del suelo y su resiliencia ante perturbaciones futuras mediante una mejor comprensión del potencial y el papel de la vegetación como cultivos de cobertura o cubiertas vegetales en el caso de cultivos leñosos; 2) desarrollar un conjunto integral de estrategias de restauración de suelos en diversos ambientes utilizando los rasgos funcionales de la vegetación como herramienta principal; 3) validar índices simplificados de salud del suelo para su uso por agentes interesados. Para lograr esto, en el WP3 se han utilizado redes UE-China de zonas agrícolas experimentales y explotaciones comerciales participantes para probar estrategias de restauración de suelos degradados bajo diferentes sistemas, y gradientes de degradación-restauración para mejorar la comprensión de las relaciones entre los rasgos funcionales de la vegetación existente, manejos y suelo.
WP4 Análisis coste-beneficio a escala agrícola de las soluciones propuestas.
Entre las prioridades del WP4 se encuentra comparar la sostenibilidad económica y social, incluidas las dimensiones de género, de las estrategias de restauración del suelo para los tres sistemas de cultivo y tipologías de fincas contempladas en el proyecto. Los resultados del WP serán un análisis sistemático de costes y beneficios para una amplia gama de tecnologías en diferentes sistemas de cultivo y tipologías de explotaciones, acompañado de las implicaciones identificadas a escala regional para que los responsables de las diferentes Administraciones puedan considerar su inclusión en las políticas agrícolas y ambientales.
WP5 Redes para implementar y mejorar estrategias de restauración de suelos.
El objetivo de este WP es coordinar redes nacionales de científicos y entidades colaboradoras participantes involucradas en TUdi y armonizar sus interacciones dentro de una red internacional. La interacción con los agricultores y técnicos se fundamentará en talleres periódicos y jornadas de campo con miembros de esta red. Los principales resultados de este WP están siendo: 1) estrategias de restauración y fertilización del suelo (y las herramientas de apoyo que las acompañan) desarrolladas y probadas en el proyecto que han sido creadas conjuntamente con los usuarios finales y otras partes interesadas relevantes; 2) proporcionar agricultores, asesores técnicos y científicos capacitados para la transición de la agricultura hacia el manejo sostenible del suelo en las tres regiones del proyecto.
El consorcio de TUdi, entre los que se integra IFAPA, aporta experiencia en agronomía, manejo y conservación de agua y el suelo, prácticas de fertilización, agricultura digital y socioeconomía para abordar desafíos dentro de "Suelos saludables para la producción de alimentos saludables", y crear conciencia pública sobre la importancia del suelo como un recurso global finito.
Publicaciones con participación de IFAPA, habidas hasta la fecha:
Contribuciones a congresos:
Guzmán, G., & Gómez, J.A. (2023). Assessment of water erosion processes at different scales through sediment tracing approaches. SINO-EUROPE Workshop on Soil Conservation.
Gómez, J.A., Guzmán, G., Soriano, A., Strauss, P., László, P., Wang, R., Krasa, J., Dostal, T., Wang, Z., Quinton, J., Yang, Q., Strohmeier, S., Vasquez, C., Toth, M., Biddoccu, M., & Zhang, X. (2023). A standardized, hybrid, field guide for appraising water erosion risk by practitioners in multiple woody crops and environments (No. EGU23-1398). Copernicus Meetings.
Guzmán, G., Soriano, A., Sánchez, A., & Gómez, J. A. (2023). Providing tools for agricultural practitioners:Monitoring system to assess water erosion risk in an olive producing area in Southern Spain combining RUSLE, stakeholders’ surveys, and publicly available information (No. EGU23-1490). Copernicus Meetings.
Falcao, R., Krasa, J., Dostal, T., Gómez, J., Llanos, M., & Guzmán, G. (2023). A Decision Support Tool for soil erosion in agricultural fields in the European Union and China (No. EGU23-3595). Copernicus Meetings.
Hayas, A., Guzmán, G., & Gómez, J. A. (2023). OptCheck: a cost analysis tool for gully control and reclamation. Book of Abstracts, 9th IGSE World Conference. https://www.optcheck.es/
Publicaciones:
Zumr, D., Li, T., Gómez, J.A., & Guzmán, G. (2023). Modelling the response of a field probe for non‐destructive measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal.
https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20578
Lancashire arable farmer James Huyton accompanied a delegation of scientists from Lancaster University on a research trip to Turin in Italy where ways of halting soil degradation across Europe were looked into.
Research from the trip will be fed into Tudi which is a Horizon 2020 project that aims to develop, upscale and popularise soil healing strategies in three major agricultural systems and farm typologies across Europe, China, and New Zealand. The Tudi acronym stands for: Transforming Unsustainable management of soils in key agricultural systems in the EU and China. Developing an integrated platform of alternatives to reverse soil degradation.
James and the Lancaster University team were hosted by Turin University and visited the Po Valley between July 4 and July 7.
He said: “There was a specific focus on what the trial farms were doing to reduce the risk of soil erosion whilst improving soil health. We talked a lot about cover cropping and increasing organic matter content. We witnessed big expanses of land that was bare in the Po Valley as a result of erosion. It was clear the Italians are already facing big issues connected to climate change.”
James, who has been a part of the NFU’s Cereals Development Programme and recently joined the NFU North West Combinable Crops Board, received the invite to travel to Italy from NFU Lancashire County Adviser Liz Berry.
He grows cereals on 70 acres of land at Langtree Old Hall Farm in Standish.
“I’m trying to change the techniques on our farm to improve the quality of our soil,” added 34-year-old James who runs the farm with the help of his father.
“This was the perfect opportunity for me to pick the brains of leading academics in this field and off the back of that some of the Lancaster University scientists will be collaborating with me at Langtree. Their research from my farm being fed into the larger body of work they are undertaking for the wider project.
“I’m planning on building up the soil organic matter to improve its resilience and reduce inputs. Last year we cover-cropped the whole farm and asked a neighbour to graze the crops off ready for spring sewing. This worked really well. I’m now working with other local livestock farmers setting up muck for straw agreements. I have been doing this for the last five years.
“We’re lucky in the North West to have direct access to so many livestock farms and should take advantage of what’s available on our doorstep. Arable farmers operating in the east of the country don’t have this opportunity.”
One of the standout innovations that impressed James when in Turin was a cup system that created micro-dams when creating potato ridges. The research from Austria showed that creating mini dams with mounds of soil in the ridges reduced soil erosion and water pollution from run off by 89%, a huge problem in fields of potatoes which have no canopy when the crop is establishing itself.
The EU-funded project TUdi organised seven national workshops across Europe to involve farmers and landowners in strategic decision making for soil health improvement.
A participatory approach allows farmers to make decisions on soil restoration strategies and techniques, based on their first-hand experience. The first round of workshops took place between July 2021 and March 2022. To share the results from the national workshops including the feedback from TUdi stakeholders, the next workshop will be on an international level in Turin in July 2022, with participation of stakeholders from all partner countries. Before these strategies are further developed to decision support tools, including digital applications, they have to be approved by the practicing farmers.
The workshops revealed the agricultural system-specific needs of farmers. This ranged from toolboxes to indicate the level of degradation directly on the field site (Czech Republic) to nutrient management plans for several farm types (Italy). Several national TUdi networks surveyed the stakeholders’ needs and already reached a set of (digital) Decision Support Tools (Hungary), including consideration of economic aspects (Bulgaria). The first workshops also targeted on finding the most effective way to communicate with farmers and stakeholders (Spain) and on obtaining expertise from specialized agriculture and environment consultants (United Kingdom). Hence, farmers and other stakeholders gave valuable input to develop strategies and tools that are needed as decision support in agricultural practice.
The workshops also showed that the joint development of soil restoring systems by farmers and scientists is the most promising approach. It motivates all stakeholders, as described by an Austrian farmer: “I think we should address these issues very actively and come up with solutions. […] At the same time, everything we do there is one big win-win situation.” Thus, the workshops were a good start for a successful cooperation.
Transforming Unsustainable management of soils in key agricultural systems in EU and China Developing an integrated platform of alternatives to reverse soil degradation (TUdi) is a Horizon 2020 project (grant agreement No 101000224) that aims to develop, upscale and popularise soil healing strategies in three major agricultural systems and farm typologies across Europe, China and New Zealand.
The project will develop healthy and productive agricultural ecosystems, which are among the most challenging UN development goals for 2030, including zero hunger, no poverty, climate action and life on land. In order to do this, TUdi relies on 15 research institutions and SMEs from all over the world, as well as a network of 42 cooperating stakeholder organisations and 66 long-term experiments and monitored farms in the participating countries.
TUdi is conceived as a transformative cooperative project which aims to develop, upscale and popularise soil healing strategies in three major agricultural systems and farm typologies across Europe, China and New Zealand. To do this, TUdi relies on 15 research institutions and SMEs from all over the world, as well as a network of 42 cooperating stakeholder organisations and 66 long-term experiments and monitored farms in the participating countries.
Aimed to lead the way in improving soil health across EU, China and New Zealand, TUdi will develop healthy and productive agricultural ecosystems, which are among the most challenging UN development goals for 2030, including zero hunger, no poverty, climate action and life on land.
“Achieving global and regional food security and soil based ecosystem services depends on our ability to use the best science and experience,” comments project Coordinator José A. Gómez of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain. ”In this way, we will drive widespread adoption of technologies to reverse degradation of agricultural soils and increase soil quality for food production, without damaging the wider environment.” The project is co-coordinated by Xiaoping Zhang of Northwest A&F University (NWAFU), China.
Although monitoring the degradation of soil quality has progressed, less has been achieved to reverse soil degradation. About two billion people and 1.9 billion hectares of land are affected by land degradation globally, with an estimated cost to the global economy between $18-20 trillion USD annually. The European Commission estimates that current management practices result in approximately 60-70% of EU soils being unhealthy, with a further uncertain percentage of unhealthy soils due to poorly quantified pollution issues.
Multiple comprehensive EU and Chinese initiatives recognise the challenge of increasing agricultural production to supply the growing demands for healthy and sustainable food, while at the same time conserving their soil resource base.
Against this background, the TUdi project plans four coherent steps:
- Engaging and cooperating with multiple stakeholders to identify and understand their needs and possibilities for strategies to cope with soil degradation
- Developing a set of farming planning tools to facilitate implementation of fertilization and strategies for soil degradation control and soil restoration at farm scale
- Providing different types of stakeholders with a thorough understanding of the impact of these soil restoring strategies
- Scaling up the adoption of sustainable use of soils in a large number of multiple farms
To mark the start of the TUdi project, its kick-off meeting was held on 22 and 23 July 2021 in an online environment. Despite the time difference, 35 people from 15 organisations across 2 continents and 2 islands attended. China, Hungary, Spain, Bulgaria, Czechia, Austria, New Zealand, the UK and Italy join forces in this four-year transcontinental research endeavour.