AGRO-WELL Open Call A - Demonstration of smart farming technologies with a proven potential to enhance working conditions in agriculture

Description

AGRO-WELL is an EU-funded project that aims to develop and support the use of innovative smart farming technologies to improve working conditions, enhance worker safety, an increase sustainability in agriculture through stakeholder engagement, sustainable business models and supportive policy recommendations. AGRO-WELL impacts will span across agricultural technology, governance, business, food value chain, and policymaking, fostering sustainable development and growth. Through two Open Calls, AGRO-WELL will identify and promote cutting-edge technological ideas and solutions at various TRL stages and significantly increase their technology readiness and marketable development. The first Open call for innovators will fund up to 4 top-ranked projects aligned with AGRO-WELL mission to enhance occupational safety, optimise decision-making and mitigate environmental impact to drive long-term agricultural sector transformation. This Open Call is targeted toward innovators with solutions at TRL5 and looking to demonstrate their solution in a real-farm environment, as well as farms interested in hosting demonstrations for innovative data-based and automated solutions. The second goal of this Open call is to attract talented individuals working on Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence, motivating them to delve into the specificities of the agricultural sector and develop high-impact solutions to improve the working solutions. Technological depth and innovativeness, human-centred innovation, and field experience are central to AGROWELL. As such, the Open Call will highlight thorough needs analysis, impact-oriented innovations, and realistic market plans. Results from the funded projects will be highly variable and dependent on the topic, but at a minimum should include: Demonstration on a commercial farm of an AR, robotic or automation-based solution already at TRL5 and with a proven potential to enhance working conditions in one of the four farming systems identified. In the case of fruit and vegetable farming, at least one growing season should be covered. Assessment of the impacts of the demonstrated solutions. AGRO-WELL will accept applications from individual applicants and small consortia of up to 3 parties from countries eligible for the HORIZON-C6-2024-GOVERNANCE-01-7 call.

Beneficiary & submission

Applicants can submit a proposal through entering their information into an application form and sending the application to an AGRO-WELL e-mail address provided. The selection of the Open Call proposals will be carried out through a three-step process: Step 1: An initial check will be made to verify whether the application meets the basic eligibility requirements Step 2: External experts will assess the proposals based on the defined evaluation criteria Step 3; The Advisory Board will select the 4 proposals with the highest score given by the evaluators. Selected beneficiaries will undergo a final eligibility check and sign the Sub-grant Agreement before joining the programme. For further information, see the Guide for Applicants.

Further information

Up to 4 projects from eligible regions will be supported by AGRO-WELL Open Call. Total funding per project is EUR 37,500€. For further information about the AGROWELL project, please visit the following website https://www.agro-well.eu/