Quantifying the impact of farming practices on soil health in arable lands

The Horizon Europe grant opportunity HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-06 is designed to enhance the understanding of how farming practices impact soil health in arable lands, contributing to the EU's Soil Deal for Europe Mission. This initiative is characterized as a Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) and specifically aims to quantify the effects of farming methods on soil health, integral to achieving the goal of restoring 75% of unhealthy soils by 2030.

Eligible applicants include research institutions, universities, small and medium enterprises, non-profit organizations, and public-private partnerships that focus on agricultural or environmental research. The application process is structured as a single-stage open call with a submission deadline set for September 30, 2025.

A consortium is mandatory for project participation, typically requiring multiple partners from at least three different EU or associated countries to ensure cross-regional collaboration. The grant supports cooperative projects with significant funding, with an expected budget allocation of €6 million for each project. This funding generally covers up to 100% of eligible costs for non-profit entities, while for-profit organizations may receive between 70% and 100% depending on specific conditions.

The project targets the agriculture and environmental sectors, focusing on sustainable farming practices, soil health, biodiversity, and climate change mitigation. While the call does not specify particular countries, it is open to all EU Member States and associated countries.

Funding aims to support research that generates scientific data on the impact of farming practices on soil functions, such as biodiversity, carbon storage, and water retention. Specific activities encouraged under the proposal include mapping soil-use regions, quantifying impacts across different farming practices, and enhancing databases for better knowledge dissemination.

Overall, the initiative seeks to foster sustainable agricultural practices through robust scientific evidence, ultimately influencing policy measures both at the EU and national levels to promote better soil management practices. The emphasis is on collaboration across various stakeholders in the agricultural domain to achieve these objectives.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-MISS-2025-05, aimed at supporting the implementation of the Soil Deal for Europe Mission. The call focuses on quantifying the impact of farming practices on soil health in arable lands. The type of action is HORIZON-RIA, which stands for HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions, utilizing a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] Model Grant Agreement.

The call is currently open for submission with a single-stage deadline model. The opening date was May 6, 2025, and the deadline for submission is September 30, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome of projects funded under this topic is to provide land managers, advisors, policymakers, researchers, and citizens with access to up-to-date, consolidated scientific knowledge on the impact of farming practices on soil health, considering both individual and combined practices. It also aims to promote greater adoption of farming practices that enhance and restore soil health, supported by evidence-based policy measures, and to ensure that Member States recognize specific challenges to improving soil health in their agricultural contexts, aligning incentives in their CAP Strategic Plans accordingly.

The scope of the call emphasizes that agricultural land covers nearly half of the EU, with two-thirds dedicated to arable crops. Farming practices are critical for maintaining soil functions, and there is a need to better understand how different farming practices impact soil biodiversity, carbon capture and storage, GHG emissions, and water infiltration and retention. The call acknowledges the support provided by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for sustainable resource management but highlights the need for stronger incentives for climate- and environment-friendly approaches, such as organic farming, agroecology, and carbon farming. A key research gap is the lack of robust scientific evidence on the impact of farming practices on soil health at both local and EU scales.

Proposed activities should include:
1. Defining and mapping homogeneous soil-use and pedo-climatic regions in EU arable lands, leveraging existing Earth observation datasets and further develop (iMAP) coefficients linking farming practices to soil health indicators. The focus should be on soil biodiversity, carbon capture and storage, GHG emissions, and water infiltration/retention, considering both CAP-supported and other farming practices.
2. Quantifying the impact of farming practices on soil health across major pedo-climatic regions and arable crops in the EU, establishing clear links between farming practices, land use, and types of crops for each soil use and pedo-climatic region. The focus should be on identifying synergies and trade-offs among these practices, supported by refined impact estimates under current and potential adoption scenarios at the EU level.
3. Developing and expanding an inventory of farming practices that support GAECs and Eco-Schemes for soil health, covering various farming systems and alternative approaches, including organic, agroecological, and regenerative practices.
4. Selecting a set of soil health indicators (SOC, water retention capacity, acidity, conductivity, biodiversity, soil erosion, nutrients, diffuse contamination, etc.) to quantify farming practices effects.
5. Enhancing and expanding existing online databases and visualisations by integrating data from previous activities to improve user accessibility, streamlining and automating updates with new knowledge, focusing on EU primary scientific literature, by leveraging AI to accelerate meta-analysis and drive continuous improvement.
6. Developing a dynamic, potentially automatically updated model to compare, analyse and evaluate scenarios assessing the impacts of individual farming practices as well as integrated farming strategies.
7. Identifying and analysing the limitations of maps, indicators, models, measurements, and results obtained, producing a gap analysis to address remaining soil health challenges in Member States.

Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO) and SoilWise. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable).

Proposals are encouraged to leverage data, expertise, and services provided by European research infrastructures and results from prior research projects, such as the EJP Soil data repositories. The analysis should build on and align with relevant efforts undertaken by the European Evaluation Helpdesk and the JRC within the frame of the iMAP project. Furthermore, proposals should include consultation with national agricultural organisations and private companies.

Proposals should allocate dedicated tasks and adequate resources for coordination and joint activities with other relevant projects and initiatives funded under the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe,’ including active engagement with relevant cluster activities and collaboration with the JRC.

The general conditions for participation include admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout, eligible countries, and other eligible conditions such as the multi-actor approach. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are also specified. The evaluation and award process follows the standard Horizon Europe procedures.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme. Application forms are available in the Submission System, and standard evaluation forms will be used with necessary adaptations. Guidance is provided through the HE Programme Guide and Model Grant Agreements (MGA).

Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2025, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, and various guidelines and manuals related to grant management and legal entity validation.

The budget overview provides a list of topics, their corresponding budget, the type of action (RIA or CSA), the opening and deadline dates, the expected contribution, and the indicative number of grants.

There are partner search announcements available for collaboration on this topic. LEARs, Account Administrators, and users with public profiles can publish partner requests.

To start the submission process, applicants should access the Electronic Submission Service through the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The call aims to address the critical need for scientific evidence on the impact of farming practices on soil health, supporting the objectives of the Soil Deal for Europe Mission and the European Green Deal. It seeks to consolidate knowledge, promote sustainable farming practices, and inform policy measures at both EU and national levels. The call encourages collaboration, data sharing, and the use of innovative technologies to achieve its goals.

The following topics are available with the following budgets:
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-01 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 12,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 11,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 2 grants.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-03 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-04 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-05 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-06 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-08 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-09 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions with a budget of 5,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-10 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions with a budget of 3,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-11 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions with a budget of 6,000,000 EUR, single-stage, opening date 2025-05-06, deadline 2025-09-30, and an indicative number of 1 grant.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to fund research and innovation projects that will provide a better understanding of the impact of farming practices on soil health in arable lands across the EU. It seeks to bridge the gap between current agricultural policies and the need for more sustainable and climate-friendly farming approaches by generating robust scientific evidence and promoting the adoption of best practices. The call is structured to support the objectives of the Soil Deal for Europe Mission and the European Green Deal, contributing to the conservation and restoration of soil health for future generations.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, based on the nature of Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), eligible applicants typically include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, non-profit organizations, and other legal entities capable of conducting research and innovation activities. The multi-actor approach requirement suggests involvement of various stakeholders, including agricultural organizations and private companies. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically through Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA). The Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is a Horizon Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants, as indicated by the "multi-actor approach" requirement. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and associated countries, as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. The text also mentions that a number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector: The program targets the agriculture and environment sectors, with a specific focus on soil health, sustainable farming practices, agroecology, organic production, and climate change mitigation. It also touches on ICT through the enhancement of online databases and the use of AI for meta-analysis.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity focuses on the European Union (EU) and its Member States. While specific countries are not explicitly listed, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its implementation within Member States are central to the program's objectives. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries are mentioned as potentially eligible under specific provisions.

Project Stage: The project stage encompasses research, development, and validation, with an emphasis on generating scientific evidence and quantitative data. The activities aim to refine existing practices and develop new approaches for sustainable soil management, suggesting a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range of 4-6.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call:
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-01: EUR 12,000,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-02: EUR 11,000,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-03 to HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-08, and HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-11: EUR 6,000,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-09: EUR 5,000,000
HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-10: EUR 3,000,000

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 grants to support their research and innovation activities.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage, as indicated by the "single-stage" deadline model.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned. However, the indicative number of grants for each topic suggests a relatively competitive environment.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement. As a standard for Horizon Europe grants, co-funding is generally not required, but the grant covers a percentage of eligible costs, typically 100% for RIAs and CSAs.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, "Supporting the implementation of the Soil Deal for Europe Mission (HORIZON-MISS-2025-05)," aims to promote soil health and sustainable farming practices across the European Union. The call invites proposals for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) that contribute to the objectives of the "A Soil Deal for Europe" Mission and the European Green Deal. The projects should focus on generating scientific evidence, developing quantitative models, and promoting the adoption of farming practices that enhance soil health, carbon capture, and climate change mitigation. The call emphasizes the importance of a multi-actor approach, involving researchers, land managers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. The funding amounts vary from EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 12,000,000 depending on the specific topic, and the application process involves a single-stage submission with a deadline of September 30, 2025. The overall goal is to provide land managers, advisors, policymakers, and citizens with the knowledge and tools needed to improve soil health and promote sustainable agriculture in the EU.