SIRAM

SIRAM will supply a comprehensive integration and implementation of sustainable solutions for regenerative agriculture across different Mediterranean areas, address- ing at the same time issues of low incomes at the smallholder farm level. A multidisci- plinary team involving agronomists, microbiologists, soil scientists, plant pathologists, nematologists, agricultural chemists, economists, and experts in dissemination will tackle issues related to soil degradation, over-use of chemical inputs, climate change, desertification, environmental risks, and low incomes at smallholder farms level.

SIRAM will help to cope with the main challenges that the agricultural sector is facing in the 21st century: 1) securing viable food production in the face of escalating food demands (expected to double by 2050); ii) ensuring sustainable management of natural resources and climate action to avoid the progressive deterioration of soil and water resources and the loss of biodiversity; iii) decreasing residue concentrations in vegetables and iv) contributing to a balanced territorial development of the EU’s rural areas and their communities.

These issues will be tackled by a multidisciplinary approach based on four main pil- lars: (i) beneficial microorganisms for plant growth and pest control; (ii) crop varieties with resistance towards abiotic and biotic stresses; (iii) agronomical practices to safe- guard soil quality and fertility; and (iv) bioeconomy approaches to recycle and valorise waste biomasses that restore soil organic matter and have biostimulant properties.