• The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is organizing the conference "A Decade of Innovative Projects from Operational Groups. Success Stories" to honor the agri-food innovation work carried out by the supra-regional Operational Groups.
• Five Operational Groups presented their projects and explained how they work, as well as the solutions they have found to the challenges of the sector.
• The 2025 call for grants to Operational Groups, endowed with an additional 46 million euros, will open in the coming weeks.

"Giving voice to innovation has allowed us to evolve over time." With this premise, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food ( MAPA ) and the PAC Network They organized the conference " A decade of innovative projects from Operational Groups. Success stories" on April 10 at the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid), which celebrated the 10 years that the supra-autonomous Operational Groups have been operating in Spain to promote innovation in the agricultural and rural sectors.

The Operational Groups are a group of stakeholders with diverse backgrounds, linked to the rural environment, who come together to develop a project aimed at finding practical solutions to shared problems or to test and implement innovative ideas related to a specific rural sector (agriculture, livestock, forestry, etc.). Their ambition is the same: to overcome current challenges and adversities from a new perspective.

The MAPA allocates almost 84 million euros to the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. the execution of approximately 270 innovative projects until 2029 , a figure that includes the projects that obtained funding from the National Rural Development Programme funds between 2014 and 2022. With these figures, Spain, which develops 20% of all innovative projects supported with community funds, leads the European Union in initiatives of the operational groups within the framework of the European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability (AEI-Agri) .

The protagonists speak

During the event held at the Reina Sofía Museum, the keynote speakers were the presentations given by the following Operational Groups:

• RETA – Network of Agricultural Test Spaces : the Association of Rural Initiatives of Catalonia (ARCA), project coordinator, explained the creation of the Network of Agricultural Test Spaces and the concept devised to facilitate young people's introduction to agricultural and livestock activities. They explained how, after the dissolution of the Operational Group, they were able to continue the activity they had started through the creation of the Association.
• SMARTOM : This Operational Group is coordinated by the Business Association of Research National Agro-Food Technology Center of Extremadura (CTAEX) and has created a digital platform for tomato cultivation, which allows the optimization of the use of phytosanitary products and other inputs in the cultivation of the same, as well as improving the monitoring and quality of the product to obtain a more sustainable and profitable crop .
• SUBALMA : This innovative project received an award from the The European CAP Network is participating in the 2024 Innovation Awards for improving the productivity and sustainability of olive groves through underground drip irrigation systems using nanobubbles and olive mill waste as fertilizer.
• REBO2VINO : Innovation led by the Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) on a circular economy project in the wine sector for the reuse of glass bottles. This initiative seeks to implement a system of standard reusable and returnable bottles for the hospitality and catering sector, enabling the Spanish wine sector and wineries to improve their profitability under the concept of a circular economy.
• CARBOGAN : UPA coordinates this project, "Digitalization of Extensive Grazing Management as a Carbon Sequestration Strategy." This Operational Group seeks improved livestock management through a selection of good pasture management practices, with the goal of improving carbon sequestration and achieving greater economic, environmental, and social sustainability of extensive livestock farming through innovative digital tools.

There is still more

During the day, the MAPA announced the launch of the new call for proposals—co-financed by the EAFRD as part of the CAP Strategic Plan in Spain and endowed with €46 million to finance the implementation of innovative supra-regional projects—which will be launched soon. To support this call, a virtual information session will be held on May 7th, which will be broadcast shortly through the MAPA and CAP Network information channels.