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Accelerating collection and use of soil health information using AI technology to support the Soil Deal for Europe and EU Soil Observatory (AI4SoilHealth; 2023-2026)

The objective of AI4SoilHealth is to co-design, create and maintain an open access European-wide digital infrastructure, compiled using state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods combined with new and deep soil health understanding and measures. The AI-based data infrastructure functions as a Digital Twin to the real-World biophysical system, forming a Soil Digital Twin. This can be used for assessing and continuously monitoring Soil Health metrics by land use and/or management parcel, supporting the Commission’s objective of transitioning towards healthy soils by 2030.

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Relevant papers in the last years

Authors: J Hidalgo, M Anza, L Epelde, JM Becerril, C Garbisu
Title: Zero-valent iron nanoparticles and organic amendment assisted rhizoremediation of mixed contaminated soil using Brassica napus
Journal: Environmental Technology & Innovation
Date: 2022
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2022.102621

Authors: C Monterroso, M Balseiro-Romero, C Garbisu, PS Kidd, NP Qafoku, PC Baveye
Title: Searching for solutions to soil pollution: underlying soil-contaminant interactions and development of innovative land remediation and reclamation techniques
Journal: Frontiers in Environmental Science
Date: 2022
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.830337

Authors: L Epelde, M Mendizabal, L Gutiérrez, A Artetxe, C Garbisu, E Feliu
Title: Quantification of the environmental effectiveness of nature-based solutions for increasing the resilience of cities under climate change
Journal: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
Vol: 67, 127433 Date: 2022
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127433

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Bioinocula and CROPping systems: an integrated biotechnological approach for improving crop yield, biodiversity and REsilience of Mediterranean agro-ecosystems (ReCrop; 2021-2024)

The Mediterranean economy is highly dependent on agriculture.
However, agricultural sustainability and productivity in this region are under serious threat due to climate change and depletion of water resources. This is worsened by poor management practices, such as the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, overgrazing, and monoculture farming. ReCROP aims to redesign Mediterranean agrosystems with improved resilience capacity and higher productivity, focusing on the development of sustainable agricultural production systems through the combined use of biotechnological tools and environmentally friendly agronomic practices. This will allow farming systems to face climate change trough the improvement of below and aboveground biodiversity, fertility, and water conservation. RECROP uses the novel approach of plant-microorganism management that relies on the increase of soils functions and health by using bioinocula, amendments, cropping systems, and climate-ready crops, to increase crop yields while providing ecological services, e.g., increasing carbon sequestration, organic matter, nutrient cycling and water conservation.

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BACTEPEA

Agriculture is currently confronting an increasing human population and limitations of soil use due to, among other reasons, pollution levels above food safety threshold values. Some agricultural practices increase the heavy metal content (HM) of agricultural soil, representing an important threat for the European agricultural development. The use of microorganisms as plant growth promoters has been increasingly studied for a number of years, but it has only recently been proposed to improve plant metal tolerance. Regrettably, plant-microorganism-pollutant interactions are still poorly understood and the molecular underlying mechanisms are mostly unknown. The abovementioned challenges for agricultural production require the study of these mechanisms to better promote a more efficient and sustainable agriculture. This project will venture into new unchartered territory by focusing on the molecular interactions between a probiotic actinobacterium (Micromonospora cremea) and its host, Pisum sativum (garden pea), in the presence of HMs. We will evaluate the capacity of M. cremea CR30 to improve plant tolerance to HM polluted soils, in addition to unraveling the molecular dialogue during the first and late steps of their interaction. Early step interactions are crucial in plant promotion and protection against external stresses, like pollution by HM. Here, we propose the use of new -omic technologies to study these molecular interactions between plants and microorganisms under metal stress, providing a new pathway for an improved soil management. This project addresses a crucial objective in food security, the development of sustainable agricultural practices to control potentially adverse HM effects on plant health.