Horticultural innovations in soil-friendly practices to ensure a sustainable future

Europe’s horticultural production systems face 3 main sustainability problems: i) continued reliance on peat growing media, and drawbacks of current peat alternatives; ii) inefficient or inappropriate use of agricultural inputs; iii) suboptimal soil health due to unsustainable management practices. The multi-actor project Hort2thefuture will address these 3 challenges over 4 years with research, supplier, retail, and grower partners representing 11 European countries. Activities are divided between 7 Work Packages corresponding to the project's key objectives, together with project management. The objectives are to: (1) develop a methodological framework and tools for effective sustainability/Life Cycle Assessment analysis, (2) create and foster the commercial uptake of relatively low-cost, reliable, scalable growing media in horticulture, using EU-sourced raw materials, having substantially lower carbon and environmental footprints than peat, (3) develop and commercialise novel products and production systems that reduce input use in horticulture, (4) develop and commercialise novel products that improve soil structure and mitigate soil compaction in horticulture, (5) facilitate behavioural change to more sustainable practices through Living Labs and policy measures, and (6) communicate, disseminate & exploit project results effectively to 7 stakeholder audiences, raising soil literacy. The project will deliver outputs at TRL5-7 for Decision Support and LCA tools, an in planta nitrate monitoring electrode, new peat-free alternatives being commercialised, based on wood fibre, nano/micro-irrigation products developed to improve irrigation efficiency and soil health, as well as commercialised biological, chemical and mechanical solutions to reduce/prevent soil compaction, restore compacted soils and improve soil structure. These outcomes will help realise Mission: Soil health objectives, involving stakeholders along the whole agri-food chain and cooperation with FAO.