Boosting the competitiveness of protein crops in Europe

The HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-03 grant opportunity under Horizon Europe aims to enhance the competitiveness of protein crops in Europe. The call encourages innovative projects focused on developing sustainable and cost-effective solutions tailored to various farming systems and regions within the EU. It emphasizes the need to integrate protein crops into diversified farming systems, improve local value chains, and valorize protein crop by-products.

Eligible applicants include research organizations, universities, SMEs, startups, farmer associations, cooperatives, retailers, and advisory service providers, all required to form a consortium that demonstrates a multi-actor approach. Individual applications cannot be submitted, and applicants must actively involve stakeholders from diverse sectors such as farmers, technology providers, and consumers.

The funding type is structured as a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) grant with a lump sum model, estimated at €6 million per project for a total budget of €12 million to fund two projects. The application process is single-stage, opening on January 14, 2026, and closing on April 14, 2026.

Proposals should focus on various aspects, including breeding and agronomic innovations, integrated pest management, machinery solutions, and business model development. The goal is to address barriers to protein crop production in Europe, such as limited access to adapted crops and pest management tools, while promoting economic viability and enhancing sustainability.

Financial support to third parties for innovations is allowed, with a maximum contribution of €60,000 per third party. While there's no explicit requirement for co-funding, applicants may voluntarily contribute to enhance project scope.

Success rates for similar calls indicate a competitive environment, with expectations of possibly below 10% to 39% based on previous submission rates. This initiative aligns with EU strategies such as the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy.

Overall, this grant seeks to boost protein crop production in Europe, enhancing food security and sustainability through collaborative and innovative agricultural practices.

This is a summary of a Horizon Europe grant opportunity focused on boosting the competitiveness of protein crops in Europe. The call, HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-03, is a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a single stage submission process. The planned opening date is January 14, 2026, and the deadline for submission is April 14, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time. The grant uses a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model.

The primary goal of this grant is to enhance the competitive production of protein crops across Europe by fostering sustainable and cost-effective innovations tailored to various farming systems, regions, and contexts. It also aims to increase farmers' profitability through the integration of protein crops into diversified farming systems, the development of local value chains, and the valorization of protein crop by-products. Ultimately, the grant seeks to increase plant-based protein production in Europe, contributing to greater economic and environmental sustainability, including agrobiodiversity, and strengthening European food and feed autonomy.

The scope of the grant emphasizes addressing barriers that limit the production and use of protein crops in Europe. These barriers include the lack of adapted local protein crops for different European environmental conditions, limited availability of effective pest management practices, inadequate machinery, poor infrastructure for processing and marketing, and the absence of well-established local value chains.

To achieve these goals, proposals should:

Develop innovative solutions tailored to different conditions across the EU, addressing key challenges hindering the inclusion of protein crops into diverse cropping systems at both the farm level and the agri-food value chain level.

Promote circular bioeconomy by valorizing protein crops’ by-products to develop economically viable and resilient farming models. This includes exploring innovative pathways for converting protein crops’ by-products into safe feed and food sources and developing concrete case studies that showcase practical circular and successful business models.

Develop or adapt innovative and scalable integrated pest and weed management strategies tailored for protein crops to enhance crop resilience, soil health, and productivity across a wide range of production systems and climate conditions, while limiting the impact on the environment and ensuring food safety.

Conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit evaluation of the proposed approaches and solutions to ensure overall feasibility across diverse farming systems.

Explore, test, and adapt available machinery for sowing, field management, harvesting, and postharvest operations, tailored to different protein crops. This includes considering the integration of digital/AI tools and proposing viable avenues for increasing access to this specific equipment.

Support farmers in transitioning to the incorporation of protein crops in European production systems by widely sharing practical knowledge through existing advisory networks, digital platforms, or capacity building programs. This involves creating diverse practice-oriented dissemination materials, such as audiovisuals, brochures, and presentations, that showcase innovations in a creative way.

The proposals must implement a multi-actor approach, ensuring that knowledge and needs from various sectors are brought together. Active participation of farmers, retailers, SMEs, and consumers is encouraged in local protein crops value chains, through the development of near-farm activities to drive local innovation. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) to engage SMEs or startups to develop, test, and demonstrate the proposed innovative solutions.

Proposals should address diverse farming systems/approaches, including conventional and organic farming, and include a dedicated task, appropriate resources, and a plan on how they will collaborate with other relevant projects, particularly those funded under the topic "HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-05: Enhancing farmers profitability and resilience through innovations for diversified crops and value chains". Proposals should also build on existing knowledge and the results of other relevant projects funded under previous work programmes.

The projects under this topic are relevant to the EU policies related to the objectives of the common agricultural policy, the EU Action Plan on the Development of Organic Production, align with the Vision for Agriculture and Food, and support the EU's ambition to increase plant protein production and reduce reliance on imports.

The general conditions for this grant include admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout, eligible countries, and other eligibility criteria such as the multi-actor approach. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are also specified. The evaluation and award process, including award criteria, scoring, thresholds, submission, evaluation processes, and indicative timeline, are detailed in the annexes of the Horizon Europe Work Programme.

Legal and financial aspects of the grants are also outlined, including the possibility for the granting authority to object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results for up to 4 years after the end of the action. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum contribution. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants, with a maximum amount of EUR 60,000 per third party.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme. Application and evaluation forms, as well as the model grant agreement (MGA), are available in the Submission System. Additional documents, such as the HE Main Work Programme, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme, EU Financial Regulation, and guidelines on lump sums and financial support to third parties, are also provided.

The budget overview indicates that the total budget for this topic, HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-03, is EUR 12,000,000, with an indicative number of 2 grants to be awarded.

Partner search announcements are available for those seeking partners to collaborate on this topic. The submission system is planned to open on January 14, 2026.

In summary, this Horizon Europe grant opportunity aims to stimulate the production and use of protein crops in Europe by funding innovative projects that address key challenges in the sector. It encourages collaboration among various actors in the value chain and promotes sustainable and economically viable farming models. The grant provides financial support to third parties and emphasizes the importance of knowledge sharing and dissemination of project results.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, the text mentions the encouragement of active participation from farmers, retailers, SMEs, and consumers. It also mentions beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties, for instance, to engage SMEs or startups. This suggests that startups, SMEs, farmers, retailers, research institutions, and consumer organizations are likely eligible, and a broad range of actors is expected. The multi-actor approach is mandatory.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a multi-actor approach, implying a consortium of multiple applicants is necessary to ensure knowledge and needs from various sectors are brought together.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is focused on the EU, as the scope mentions innovative solutions tailored to different conditions across the EU. The text also mentions non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding but have specific provisions.

Target Sector: The target sector is agriculture, specifically focusing on protein crops, sustainable agriculture, bioeconomy, and food production. It also touches on pest management, machinery for agriculture, and digital/AI tools in agriculture.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity focuses on the European Union (EU). Non-EU/non-Associated Countries are mentioned as having specific provisions for funding.

Project Stage: The project stage is innovation and demonstration, as the call is for Innovation Actions (IA) and emphasizes developing, testing, and demonstrating innovative solutions. It also involves adapting existing machinery and developing integrated pest management strategies.

Funding Amount: The budget for the topic HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-03 is EUR 12,000,000. The indicative number of grants is 2, suggesting an average grant size of around EUR 6,000,000. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60,000. Other FARM2FORK topics have budgets ranging from 2,000,000 EUR to 14,000,000 EUR.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant. They can also provide financial support to third parties in the form of grants.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates cannot be determined from the text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement. However, Horizon Europe grants often involve some level of co-funding, which would be detailed in the specific call documents.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-03, aims to boost the competitiveness of protein crops in Europe. The call encourages projects that develop and test sustainable, cost-effective innovations tailored to different farming systems and regions within the EU. The goal is to increase farmers' profitability, promote plant-based protein production, and enhance the sustainability and autonomy of the European food and feed system.

Projects should focus on:

Developing innovative solutions for protein crop inclusion in diverse cropping systems at the farm and agri-food value chain levels.
Promoting a circular bioeconomy by valorizing protein crop by-products into safe feed and food sources.
Developing integrated pest and weed management strategies.
Conducting cost-benefit evaluations of proposed solutions.
Exploring and adapting machinery for protein crops, potentially integrating digital/AI tools.
Supporting farmers' transition to protein crop incorporation through knowledge sharing and capacity building.

The call requires a multi-actor approach, encouraging the active participation of farmers, retailers, SMEs, and consumers. Funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and beneficiaries can provide financial support to third parties, such as SMEs and startups, up to EUR 60,000 per party. The geographic focus is primarily on the EU, with potential eligibility for non-EU/non-associated countries under specific provisions. The project stage is innovation and demonstration, with a focus on Horizon Innovation Actions (IA). The budget for this specific topic is EUR 12,000,000, with an indicative number of 2 grants to be awarded. The application process is a single-stage open call with a deadline of April 14, 2026.