SOILRES project launches to revive Europe's soils and future-proof farming

2 Jul 2025

University College Cork (UCC) is part of a European Consortium led by Aarhus University to develop innovative solutions to restore soil health and boost climate resilience in agriculture.

This new initiative, SOILRES – Soil Health and Crop Resilience through Biodiversity, will unite leading agricultural scientists, farmers, and innovators across Europe in a shared mission to regenerate soil health, strengthen crop resilience, and reduce the environmental impact of farming. Funded under the Horizon Europe programme, the project brings together a diverse network of test sites in Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, and Portugal, each representing key European climate and soil regions.

Dr Israel Ikoyi, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UCC has been awarded €567,541.25 to lead the Soil Biodiversity Assessment Work package of the project.

SOILRES aims to provide practical, science-backed solutions for one of agriculture’s most pressing challenges: how to produce food sustainably in the face of climate extremes, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation. The project focuses on both organic and conventional farming systems, addressing specific regional problems such as drought, nutrient leaching, low productivity, weed pressure, and declining soil fertility. Through the co-design and field testing of biodiversity-based innovations — including cover crops, microbial biostimulants, compost, biochar, and digital tools — SOILRES will deliver regenerative farming strategies that are scalable, economically viable, and adapted to real-farm conditions.

A continental approach to regenerative agriculture

The project is built around six core test sites, each led by local institutions and farmers actively involved in the trials. In Denmark, Aarhus University in collaboration with Institute for Food Studies & Agro Industrial Development will work towards transforming sandy soils with cover crops, perennial wheat systems, and biological amendments to improve nutrient cycling and crop yields.

In Finland, the Natural Resources Institute of Finland will pilot cold-adapted regenerative practices, including green manures and compost teas, to enhance the resilience of boreal soils and crops. France's site, led by the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, in collaboration with AgroParisTech will introduce innovative strip-cropping techniques that integrate wheat into perennial prairies, improving biodiversity and soil structure on degraded clay soils.

Hungary’s Csoroszlya Farm, in collaboration with the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Hungary, will be implementing a range of regenerative organic practices — such as minimum tillage, green manures, and real-time soil health monitoring — to combat drought and maintain low-input production.

In Italy, Azienda Agricola La Petrosa will work with the European Delegation for Family Farming in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the University of Naples Federico II, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and the Renewable Energy Consortium for Research and Demonstration to evaluate novel composts, biochar-coated seeds, and strip tillage for weed control and enhanced soil fertility under organic management.

Meanwhile in Portugal, the School of Agriculture and Quinta da Cholda will be using drones to sow cover crops and apply biostimulants in intensive maize systems, aiming to reduce nitrogen leaching and fertiliser dependency while preserving yields.

Other key academic institutions will also contribute to the project, including University College Cork focusing on the root-microbiota interaction, the Catholic University of Louvain on assessing barriers and/enablers to wider adoption of the innovation, the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research that will use satellite and drone data to spatially map soil health, and the National Agricultural Research Center of Jordan that will run how some of those innovation will perform under increased climatic variability.

In addition, technology-driven SMEs such as LGI, MOM and AGROBIOMICS will play a vital role in developing innovative soil improvers, while the Galician Enterprise-University Foundation will lead the project’s communication and dissemination activities.

Each test site not only serves as a research hub but also as a demonstration farm where farmers, agronomists, and stakeholders will engage in workshops, field days, and ongoing knowledge exchange. By combining scientific analysis with farmer-led innovation, SOILRES will produce tangible outcomes, including practical guides for farmers, new machinery prototypes, and digital tools to support adoption.

Through its multi-actor approach, SOILRES is positioned to influence agricultural policy, build farmer capacity, and contribute to Europe’s broader sustainability goals, including the Farm to Fork Strategy and the EU Soil Mission. The project's findings will be made publicly available to support replication and upscaling across the continent and beyond.

Driving change from the ground up

Fully aligned with the EU Green Deal and key initiatives such as the Farm to Fork Strategy, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, and the Soil Mission A Soil Deal for Europe, SOILRES seeks to inform policy, empower farmers, and promote a regenerative approach to agriculture that restores rather than depletes natural capital.

The project will contribute to EU targets on pesticide reduction, the expansion of organic production, and the sustainable management of natural resources as outlined in the Common Agricultural Policy and the Sustainable Development Goals. Project outcomes will be openly shared to facilitate broader uptake and replication across Europe and beyond.