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The AgroFossilFree project supports Fossil-Energy-Free Technologies and Strategies (FEFTS) in agriculture by coordinating several stakeholder actions and providing information on FEFTS in agriculture. Thereby, special emphasis is placed on applications promoting RES integration in major agricultural sectors, particularly biomass. The core objective of the project is to set-up an online platform where farmers, advisors, researchers, industrial partners and other actors can find useful information on FEFTS in agriculture. The AgroFossilFree project contributes to the High Level EU Strategies (i.e. EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy) by aiming to decrease the use of fossil energy in any farming process. It also contributes to closing the gap between the available FEFTS and the everyday EU agricultural practices by promoting the effective exchange of novel ideas and exchanging information between stakeholders. If this gap closes, European agriculture could become more sustainable with minimum energy, environmental and socioeconomic impacts. With the knowledge that is collected, classified, and presented to actors in the agricultural field, the European agricultural sector can promote and comply with fossil energy use reduction policies, the related legal and regulatory frameworks and sustainable food production practices. This paper presents the status of the AgroFossilFree project which is funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program., Proceedings of the 30th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 9-12 May 2022, Online, pp. 402-405

8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion; 1645-1648, The AgroFossilFree project promotes fossil-energy-free technologies and strategies (FEFTS) in the agricultural sector by integrating various stakeholder initiatives and disseminating knowledge on FEFTS in agriculture. Applications boosting RES integration in important agricultural sectors, notably solar technology, are given considerable attention. The project's main goal is to create a platform where farmers, advisors, academics, business partners, and other stakeholders may discover pertinent information about FEFTS in agriculture. The AgroFossilFree initiative works to reduce the use of fossil fuels in all aspects of farming, which supports the EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies. By encouraging the productive sharing of novel technologies, it helps to bridge the gap between the available FEFTS and common agricultural practices throughout the EU. By facilitating the effective flow of innovative information and ideas amongst stakeholders, it contributes to close the gap between the available FEFTS and common EU agricultural practices, thus European agriculture could become more environmentally, socioeconomically, and energetically sustainable. The European agricultural sector can support and abide by policies to reduce the use of fossil energy, the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks, and sustainable food production practices with the help of the knowledge that is gathered, classified, and presented to actors in the agricultural field. This article provides an update on the European Commission founded AgroFossilFree project.

OPTIMA is an H2020 research project that develops an environmentally friendly Integrated Pest Management (IPM) framework for vineyards, apple orchards and carrots by providing a holistic integrated approach which includes all critical aspects related to integrated disease management, such as i) use of novel biological Plant Protection Products, ii) disease prediction models, iii) spectral early disease detection systems and iv) precision spraying techniques. It will contribute significantly to the reduction of the European agriculture reliance on chemical Plant Protection Products resulting in reduced use of agrochemicals, lower residues and reduced impacts on human health.

38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1691-1693, The AgroFossilFree project is supporting Fossil-Energy-Free Technologies and Strategies (FEFTS) in agriculture by coordinating several stakeholder actions and by providing information on FEFTS in agriculture. Thereby, special emphasis is placed on applications of photovoltaics (PV) in agriculture. The core objective of the project is to set-up an online platform for farmers, advisors, researchers, industrial partners and other actors on which they can find useful information on FEFTS in agriculture. The AgroFossilFree project contributes to the High Level EU Strategies (i.e. EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy) as it aims to decrease the use of fossil energy in any farming process. It also contributes to close the gap between the available FEFTS and the everyday EU agricultural practices by promoting effective exchange of novel ideas and by exchanging information between research, industry, extension services and the farming community. If this gap closes, European agriculture could become more sustainable with minimum energy, environmental and socioeconomic impacts. With the knowledge that is collected, classified and presented to actors in the agricultural field, the European agricultural sector is able to promote and comply with the fossil energy use reduction policies, the related legal and regulatory frameworks and sustainable food production practices. This paper presents the current status of the AgroFossilFree project which is funded by the Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Commission.

Smart farming technologies have a wide potential to improve agricultural performance, ranging from improved use of crop nutrients and plant protection products, increased crop quality and reduced overlaps to better production economy. In order to reduce the use of inputs and to diminish the adverse effects on the environment, more and more focus is put on site-specific application of fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation water. However, the costs of implementing these technologies are often quite high, compared to the benefits. Therefore, a comprehensive methodology approach that facilitates the understanding of investments, costs and benefits can provide an overview of the most feasible pathways for farmers to implement precision agriculture (PA) and may offer the chance to significantly enhance the level of adoption of the most suitable technologies. The objective of this study is to describe an overall integrated methodology approach to support cost-benefit analysis related to PA. A number of scenarios and their financial and environmental performance are presented either as single technologies or as a combination of different technologies. Key outputs of the analysis are net present value with selected environmental indicators such as change in fuel, pesticides and water use compared with conventional practices from other similar technologies. Findings from this study indicate that PA is mainly beneficial to large scale farms. Smart farming technologies have a wide potential to improve agricultural performance, ranging from improved use of crop nutrients and plant protection products, increased crop quality and reduced overlaps to better production economy. In order to reduce the use of inputs and to diminish the adverse effects on the environment, more and more focus is put on site-specific application of fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation water. However, the costs of implementing these technologies are often quite high, compared to the benefits. Therefore, a comprehensive methodology approach that facilitates the understanding of investments, costs and benefits can provide an overview of the most feasible pathways for farmers to implement precision agriculture (PA) and may offer the chance to significantly enhance the level of adoption of the most suitable technologies. The objective of this study is to describe an overall integrated methodology approach to support cost-benefit analysis related to PA. A number of scenarios and their financial and environmental performance are presented either as single technologies or as a combination of different technologies. Key outputs of the analysis are net present value with selected environmental indicators such as change in fuel, pesticides and water use compared with conventional practices from other similar technologies. Findings from this study indicate that PA is mainly beneficial to large scale farms.

Farm management information systems centered around the farm manager in open-field crop production.Prevailing differences between academic and commercial farm management information systems.Grouping of farm management information systems based on cluster analysis. Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) in agriculture have evolved from simple farm recordkeeping into sophisticated and complex systems to support production management. The purpose of current FMIS is to meet the increased demands to reduce production costs, comply with agricultural standards, and maintain high product quality and safety. This paper presents current advancements in the functionality of academic and commercial FMIS. The study focuses on open-field crop production and centeres on farm managers as the primary users and decision makers. Core system architectures and application domains, adoption and profitability, and FMIS solutions for precision agriculture as the most information-intensive application area were analyzed. Our review of commercial solutions involved the analysis of 141 international software packages, categorized into 11 functions. Cluster analysis was used to group current commercial FMIS as well as examine possible avenues for further development. Academic FMIS involved more sophisticated systems covering compliance to standards applications, automated data capture as well as interoperability between different software packages. Conversely, commercial FMIS applications targeted everyday farm office tasks related to budgeting and finance, such as recordkeeping, machinery management, and documentation, with emerging trends showing new functions related to traceability, quality assurance and sales.