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Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) Bio-based Alternatives for Fertilising and/or Crop Protection Products

 

Description

This flagship Innovation Action supports the industrial-scale deployment of Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) bio-based alternatives to conventional fertilisers and crop protection products. The objective is to accelerate the market uptake of sustainable, bio-based agricultural inputs that reduce Europe's dependence on imported mineral fertilisers and synthetic agrochemicals while improving soil health, environmental performance and agricultural resilience. Projects should establish industrial biorefinery value chains capable of producing cost-competitive bio-based solutions that meet agronomic and regulatory requirements.

Funding Amount

  • Expected EU contribution per project: €20 million (indicative)
  • Total topic budget: €20 million
  • Expected number of funded projects: 1 flagship project
  • Funding rate
    • 60% of eligible costs for for-profit companies.
    • 100% of eligible costs for non-profit legal entities.

Submission Deadlines

  • Call opening: 23 April 2026
  • Submission deadline: 22 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels time (CET)
  • Submission model: Single-stage.

Submission Conditions

  • Horizon Europe Innovation Action (IA Flagship).
  • Single-stage application.
  • Main innovation activities must achieve TRL 8 by project completion.
  • Mandatory Business Plan annex demonstrating commercial viability and replication potential.
  • Mandatory Multi-Actor Approach (MAA).
  • Mandatory Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) assessment.
  • Mandatory environmental impact assessment.
  • Proposal must satisfy the IKOP threshold of at least 20% of total eligible project costs.
  • Proposal Part B limited to 70 pages.
  • Standard Horizon Europe and CBE JU eligibility and evaluation rules apply.

Eligible Businesses

Eligible applicants under Horizon Europe include:

  • SMEs
  • Large enterprises
  • Start-ups and scale-ups
  • Universities
  • Research organisations
  • Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs)
  • Non-profit organisations
  • Biotechnology companies
  • Bio-based industry companies
  • Biorefinery operators
  • Agricultural input manufacturers
  • Farmers and farmer organisations
  • Primary producers
  • Feedstock suppliers
  • Public authorities and policymakers (where relevant as consortium partners).

Industrial multi-actor consortia covering the full agricultural value chain are strongly encouraged.

Eligible Countries

Eligible participants are legal entities established in:

  • EU Member States.
  • Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
  • Other countries eligible under the Horizon Europe Rules for Participation where applicable.

Standard Horizon Europe eligibility rules apply.

Target TRL

  • Target TRL: TRL 8
  • End-product validation: TRL 6 or higher
  • Supporting lower-TRL activities are permitted where necessary to enable industrial deployment.

Expected Outcome

Projects are expected to deliver:

  • Full industrial-scale biorefinery and value chains for sustainable production of bio-based fertilisers and/or crop protection solutions.
  • Increased availability of cost-competitive SSbD bio-based alternatives with proven agronomic performance.
  • Reduced dependence on synthetic and mineral agricultural chemicals.
  • Increased EU strategic autonomy, resilience and competitiveness through stronger cooperation between bio-based industries and farmers.
  • Improved soil health and reduced accumulation of pollutants and microplastics in soil and water.
  • Contributions to:
    • Updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy
    • Farm to Fork Strategy
    • Horizon Europe Mission "A Soil Deal for Europe"
    • European Chemical Industry Action Plan
    • Clean Industrial Deal.

Scope

Projects should:

  • Demonstrate TRL 8 industrial production of SSbD bio-based alternatives to current fertilising and/or crop protection products.
  • Develop one or more of the following:
    • Bio-fertilisers
    • Bio-stimulants
    • Bioactive molecules
    • Biotechnology-based crop protection solutions
    • Bioherbicides
    • Biopesticides
    • Bioinsecticides
    • Combinations of the above.
  • Produce solutions applicable at any stage of the crop production cycle.
  • Validate the produced solutions (TRL 6 or above) by formulating end-products and demonstrating:
    • Agronomic performance
    • Safety
    • Sustainability
    • Comparable or improved performance against synthetic and/or mineral benchmarks.
  • For bio-based fertilisers, demonstrate stable nutrient composition (N/P/K) through a robust production validation procedure.
  • Test products on demonstration farms with primary producers under different climatic conditions, soil types and farming systems (including organic agriculture).
  • Monitor impacts on:
    • Soil health
    • Soil quality
    • Water quality
    • Environmental performance.
  • Where controlled-release technologies are used, avoid microplastics accumulation in soil.
  • Apply a Multi-Actor Approach (MAA) involving relevant stakeholders, including primary producers.
  • Address EU regulatory compliance, conduct sanitary and environmental risk assessments, identify regulatory gaps and provide recommendations.
  • Apply the European Commission's Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework.
  • Build on and complement previous Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, BBI JU and CBE JU projects.

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