Soil degradation, particularly in coastal areas prone to salinization and industrial sites with contamination, presents a major obstacle to European agriculture.

To combat this, IASIS partners have established 8 Field Case Studies, during the first year of the project. These “Lighthouses” are live research environments used to test, validate, and demonstrate how specific industrial crops can be employed to manage contaminated and saline soils while simultaneously producing biomass for various bio-based applications.

We are developing improved crop genotypes and microbial consortia specifically designed to help plants survive in toxic or salty conditions. These innovations are then moved out of the lab and tested in the 8 case study sites.

Sites on contaminated areas

• In France and Belgium we are targeting soils from former landfills and illegal dumping sites, that are contaminated with both heavy metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH).
• In Poland we are addressing  soils contaminated with with metals (zinc and lead) and metalloids due to long term  mining and smelting activities
• In Greece we are addressing soils with high contamination of zinc, cadmium, lead and other metals and metalloids from past mining and processing wastes.

The crops selected for the contaminated sites are crambe, camelina, hemp, safflower, sorghum and nettle. Researchers are also testing the use of biostimulants to boost plant tolerance to contaminants, as well as crop yields and the phytomanagement performance of the crops in those soils.

Sites on saline land

Here we are applying low-input practices (biofertilizers, digestate) to validate  crops in salty environments.

• In Italy, the site is located in Ravenna and is managed by a local farmer’s cooperative, suffering from high salinity levels due to its proximity to the Adriatic sea .
• In Greece: Two distinct environments—one coastal site in Western Greece and one inland site near the former Lake Kopais, suffering from salinity and trace contamination.
• Portugal: the site located near Setubal suffers from high salinity levels and is used to 
• validating a large variety of Salicornia genotypes adapted to extreme salinity.

The crops selected for the saline sites are: salicornia, safflower, camelina, sorghum, and carinata. 

In addition to the experimental trials, the case studies act as “lighthouses”, where the farming community is trained and involved to design effective practices to grow crops in these challenging environments . 

Over four years, we monitor the reduction of soil contaminants and the improvement of soil health indicators. In addition we harvest the resulting biomass to supply downstream industrial applications, such as bioplastics, resins and coatings, and biocomposites, ensuring this production does not compete with the food supply chain.

Read more in this booklet