October 28, 2020. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food has published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) the 2020 early call for applications for grants for supra-regional innovative projects of general interest within the framework of the National Rural Development Program, submeasure 16.2, with an amount exceeding €17 million.

• These grants are aimed at implementing innovation projects by operational groups of the "European Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability Innovation" (AEI-Agri).
• The budget is over 17 million euros
• The call is open until Monday, November 17, 2020, at 2:00 p.m.

Following thispublication , which was made last Saturday, October 24, interested parties have 15 business days to submit their applications , starting the day after publication, with November 17, 2020, at 2:00 p.m., peninsular time, being the deadline for submitting them.

To apply for these grants, it is important to keep in mind that there are 12 strategic lines , each with its own budget allocation, and that the project must be within them. Furthermore, the scope of the project must be agri-food and/or forestry, and in a rural environment.

The maximum grant is €600,000 per project, and disclosure of the beneficiary projects is mandatory.

Characteristics

1) Objective: To finance projects aimed at benefiting an entire sector or subsector at the national level and that meet the objectives of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP-Agri) in terms of agricultural productivity and sustainability.

2) Execution period: projects may have a duration divided into three execution periods:

a) First period: from the submission of the application until September 15, 2021.

b) Second period: from the submission of the aid application until September 15, 2022.

c) Third period: from the submission of the application until September 15, 2023.

3) Beneficiaries: groups of at least two individuals or legal entities (national in scope or from at least two different autonomous communities) with the following profiles: agri-food or forestry sector / research or knowledge sector / others (with a relevant role in relation to the group's theme).

4) Composition: The Task Force may have from 2 to 16 members, with a maximum of 8 beneficiaries. At least two of the members must be independent.

5) The 12 strategic lines are the following:

TO. Interoperability innovation projects: €1,800,000

B. Innovation projects on value chain and environmental data , with the aim of supporting the collection and distribution of consumer data (trends, consumer perception, etc.) at all stages of the chain: €1,200,000

C. Innovation projects that implement the Living Labs methodology : €1,200,000

D. Innovation projects on crop monitoring and harvest prediction : €1,200,000

AND. Sustainable irrigation: €1,200,000

F. Short or alternative marketing channels, direct sales methods and meeting points to facilitate sales: €1,800,000

G. Precision agriculture: €1,500,000

H. Climate change adaptation or mitigation and complementary strategies: €1,500,000

YO. Circular bioeconomy: €1,800,000

J. Development of new vaccines and alternatives to the use of antibiotics: €1,800,000

K. Increase in the added value of protein crops: €1,200,000

L. Other bottom-up innovation projects: €855,367.30

No grants may be awarded to innovative projects within these lines if the financial limits mentioned above are exceeded.

The forms are available on the MAPA website .

For any questions or concerns regarding the call, please write to the following email address: idiagri@mapa.es .