Research-based solutions for sustainable agri-food system addressed to the European Green Deal objectives (GreenAgroRes)

The overall goal of the GreenAgroRes project is to develop knowledge and create scientifically based solutions for the sustainable and rational use of Latvia's natural resources, increasing their added value in changing socio-economic, environmental and climate conditions.

The project defines a variety of tasks:

1. Analyze the impact of reduced synthetic plant protection product loads on the productivity and harvest quality of the most widely grown field crop - winter wheat, by testing them in different regions of Latvia;
2. Study the technological elements of the most economically significant fruit trees, berries and vegetables, including smart solutions for reducing the use of synthetic plant protection products;
3. Study new pathogens of legumes and horticultural plants in connection with changes in climate and cultivation technologies;
4. Prepare proposals for solutions for the development of a sustainable and viable agricultural sector under various scenarios for achieving the Green Deal goals by conducting:
   • An assessment of the most appropriate management practices in Latvia for the implementation of the Green Deal challenges that most directly affect agricultural activity;
   • An assessment of the distribution of the costs and investment burden of implementing the most appropriate management practices identified for achieving the Green Deal goals among the parties involved (farmers, consumers, state measures, EU funds);
   • Assessment of Latvia's advantages and disadvantages, compared to other EU Member States, in achieving the Green Deal objectives most directly related to agricultural activity;
5. To analyse the link between the development of antimicrobial resistance and the use of antibiotics in cattle and pig farms, to study the spread of the most important infectious agents;
6. To obtain food consumption data of the Latvian population on industrially produced and home-produced alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, paying particular attention to beverages with added plants or their products, nutritional supplements, as well as products characteristic of Latvia - teas, smoked fish and meat, etc.;
7. To create new knowledge for ensuring a sustainable food system (and the processing of food production by-products into high-quality and food chain regulatory enactments-compliant products, preserving biologically active compounds) and the use of environmentally friendly and recyclable packaging materials in food;
8. Development of an integrated method for assessing the stock of economically valuable lakes using data from recreational, commercial and scientific fishing (fishing gear, hydroacoustic measurements and electrofishing);
9. Analysis of the risk-benefit ratio of pollution and nutritional value of economically valuable fish as a food product.

The project involves 90 scientists from various fields from all partner organizations, of which 19 are main executors, and 9 are students from multiple fields. The implementation of the project has been supported by 12 different agricultural, fisheries, and environmental non-governmental organizations, which believe that it will create significant solutions for the sustainable development of the sectors.