Marginal lands for Growing Industrial Crops: Turning a burden into an opportunity (MAGIC)

Description:

MAGIC project aims to promote the sustainable development of resource-efficient and economically profitable industrial crops grown on marginal lands. In the long term, this strategy will foster the sustainable development of the EU bio-based economy and will contribute to achieving EU energy and climate targets.

MAGIC is based on the premise that cultivation of selected industrial crops on areas facing natural constraints (e.g. extreme climatic conditions, low soil productivity, steep slope, etc.) can i) ensures the production of resource-efficient feedstocks, with low indirect land-use change (iLUC), for a growing bio-based industry, and ii) increase farmers’ incomes through access to new markets and the revalorization of marginal land. To achieve that an up-to-date database of existing resource-efficient industrial crops will be developed with information on their agronomic characteristics, input requirements, yield performance and quality traits for end-use applications. A Decision Support System (DSS) will be developed and validated with the active involvement of farmers and end users.

In parallel, current and future marginal lands in Europe facing natural constraints will be mapped, characterized and analyzed to provide a spatially explicit classification that will serve as a basis for developing sustainable best-practice options for industrial crops. The most promising crop species will be identified taking advantage of the profound experience of the consortium and in a multi-actor approach with stakeholders.

Further investigation actions include the creation of new breeding tools and strategies towards better crop varieties, the identification and optimization of appropriate agronomic practices with limited input requirements and the development of suitable harvesting strategies and logistics to optimize the biomass supply-chains. The impact of MAGIC will be maximized by integrating sustainability aspects (covering environment, society and economy) of the value chains. Success stories of industrial crops in EU regions will be analyzed addressing technical, environmental, economic and social issues to produce policy recommendations and best-practice guidelines for their promotion at local/regional level. The project results, database, maps and the DSS tool will be used as dissemination tools to increase farmers’ awareness and establish strong links with EIP AGRI.

Project information

Lead

CENTRE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND SAVING FONDATION, Greece MARATHONOS 19TH KM 19009 PIKERMI, Greece

Partners

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA, Italy
STICHTING WAGENINGEN RESEARCH, Netherlands
WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, Netherlands
UNIVERSITAET HOHENHEIM, Germany
INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE AGRONOMIQUE, France
IFEU - INSTITUT FUR ENERGIE UND UMWELTFORSCHUNG HEIDELBERG GMBH, Germany
IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE, United Kingdom
NOVA-INSTITUT FUR POLITISCHE UND OKOLOGISCHE INNOVATION GMBH, Germany
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI CATANIA, Italy
FACULDADE DE CIENCIAS E TECNOLOGIADA UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA, Portugal
UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA, Portugal
ARKEMA France, France
CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS-CIEMAT, Spain
COOPERATIVAS AGRO-ALIMENTARIAS DE ESPANA U DE COOP SOCIEDAD COOPERATIVA, Spain
KRZYZANIAK MICHAL, Poland
CONSIGLIO PER LA RICERCA IN AGRICOLTURA E L'ANALISI DELL'ECONOMIA AGRARIA, Italy
INSTYTUT WLOKIEN NATURALNYCH I ROSLIN ZIELARSKICH, Poland
B.T.G. BIOMASS TECHNOLOGY GROUP BV, Netherlands
AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, Greece
INSTITUTE OF BIOENERGY CROPS AND SUGAR BEET NATIONAL ACADEMY OF AGRARIAN SCIENCES OF UKRAINE, Ukraine
LATVIJAS VALSTS MEZZINATNES INSTITUTS SILAVA, Latvia
INTERNATIONALES INSTITUT FUER ANGEWANDTE SYSTEMANALYSE, Austria
NOVABIOM, France
VANDINTER SEMO BV, Netherlands
BIOS AGROSYSTEMS SA, Greece

Source of funding

H2020-EU.3.2.1.1. - Increasing production efficiency and coping with climate change, while ensuring sustainability and resilience; H2020-EU.3.2.4.1. - Fostering the bio-economy for bio-based industries