AI supporting informed advice for farmers and foresters to improve competitiveness and sustainability

Overview

Funding for the development, testing, and piloting of AI-based solutions that provide tailored, impartial advice to farmers, foresters, and advisors to enhance competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience in EU agriculture and forestry. Targets consortia involving end-users, SMEs, and research organizations.

Who Can Apply

Consortia of legal entities established in eligible countries, including SMEs, start-ups, universities, research organizations, and rural actors (e.g., farmers, foresters, advisors). The multi-actor approach is mandatory. Entities directly or indirectly controlled by China are ineligible.

Funding Details

• Maximum grant amount: 6,000,000 EUR
• Funding is provided as a lump sum.

What Is Funded

• Development, testing, validation, and piloting of cost-effective AI-based advisory tools for farmers, foresters, and advisors.
• Integration of multimodal data (e.g., text, images, audio, video) from public and private sources to provide contextual advice.
• Creation of interoperable, curated datasets for reuse and information fusion.
• Co-development with end-users, including training and awareness-raising on AI benefits and risks.
• Synergies with existing EU-funded initiatives (e.g., Horizon 2020/Europe, EU Missions, Common European Agriculture Data Space).
• Dissemination of results through practice-oriented materials (e.g., audiovisual content, brochures).

Technology / Maturity Requirements

• Target Technology Readiness Levels (TRL): 4 to 6.

Key Dates

• Open date: 2027-02-03
• Deadline: 2027-05-10

Application Process (High-Level)

Single-stage application process via the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Geographic Scope & Language

• Eligible countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, United Kingdom, Switzerland.
• Application language: English.

Notes

• Mandatory use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS for satellite-based data if applicable.
• Proposals must include social sciences and humanities (SSH) expertise (e.g., legal, gender, behavioral sciences).
• Projects must demonstrate tangible benefits and added value compared to existing solutions.
• The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a consortium member with zero funding or as an associated partner.