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The project in order to achieve its objectives has:
See them in detail below, under the respective category
Within Action A1, a meta-analysis on waste and by-products of the agro-industrial sector will be performed, along with the development of a spatial (GIS) system containing all available climatic and agricultural data. The spatial (Greece, Italy and France) and temporal distribution (during recent years) of agro-industrial waste and by-products will be mapped to quantify the potential availability of bioactive compounds and identify hot spots of waste of primary importance; because of their content in plant secondary metabolites (PSMs)
Deliverables
Action A2 aims to identify the common farming practices per participating country and the farmers’ level of awareness as well as to establish a solid cooperation framework between project beneficiaries and the external stakeholders. This will be realized by in-depth interviews and group meetings to collect information on common practices per country/region and assess the farmers’ attitude towards reduction of GHG emissions and sustainable helminth control as well as their potential adoption for novel concepts of parasite control. In addition, a network of agro-industries will be developed in order to:
Deliverables
Main objective is to identify the bioactive potential of diverse agro-industrial waste and by-products, through the assessment of their bioactive phytochemicals content and the determination of their bioactivities with special focus on antiparasitic properties. This will include the chemical and biological characterization and the available concentrations of PSMs in the agro-industrial wastes and by-products. The candidate for investigation resources that contain PSMs are the industrial wastes and by-products of: olives processing, citruses and tomatoes processing, carob and hazelnut industry and vinification industry. Their properties and utility will be studied alone and/or in combination. The agricultural industries selection was based on previous bioactivity studies, the volume and environmental impact of their wastes and economic importance for Mediterranean basin countries. The anthelmintic (AH) activity of these resources will be measured based on in vitro screening covering a wide range of in vitro assays applied to two GIN species. All matrixes tested that will present a potent profile will be further exploited in the terms of Actions to follow.
Deliverables
In a first stage (Sub-Action C2.1), bioactive resources including tannin-containing plants/by-products, and other PSMs extracts and different waste sources and/or their extracts will be tested for their methane and ammonia reducing properties in vitro by several partners (UMRH, UNINA). The efficacy of bioactive resources and inclusion levels will be assessed in vitro using dairy sheep/goat diets representative for partner countries farming systems. In a second stage the most promising bioactive resources depending on the outcome of Sub-Action C2.1 will be tested on animals
Deliverables
The general objective is to develop and optimize diet formulations derived by agro-industrial waste resources containing PSM which can be implemented on-farm to favour an integrated control of GHG emissions and gut pathogens in sheep and goats. The Action will incorporate the best selected PSM resources in pellets of food additives combined with other feed stuffs. By combination we can obtain a threshold level of bioactive PSMs, thereby combining nutritive values and beneficial effects on health and welfare of sheep or goats, which is the definition of nutraceuticals. Based on the above results prototype pellets will be developed by incorporating the selected plant with the best AH activity
Deliverables
More than 2,000 tons of bioactive pellets will be produced in order to be used in Action C4 for the evaluation of the operational use of bioactive feeds at farm level. The on-farm evaluation will take place in 4 different livestock farms per country (Greece, Italy, France).
Deliverables
A climatic, socioeconomic and technoeconomic analysis of the produced bioactive feeds will be performed to (1) valorize livestock products produced under GHG mitigating conditions and (2) develop a clear information channel to transparently communicate to consumers on the adopted climate mitigation strategies and its impact for the farmer, the animals and the environment. The produced analysis will support the creation of additional value for the ruminant livestock products to overcome farmer investment needs to shift to the new feeding approaches. Furthermore, the certification framework of the produced feeds will be analyzed in order to enhance their valorization and outline their performance towards animal welfare and climate change mitigation.
Deliverables
This Action is dedicated to training endeavours in order to optimize the adoption of GHG reduction innovations developed in the previous Actions. The LIFE MiCliFeed training programme will deliver research networks, research outputs and expertise necessary to sustain livestock and agricultural sectors in the face of the threat posed by global change and GHG emissions. LIFE MiCliFeed will provide training in both an academic and non-academic environment to enhance technical, practical, communication, and management skills. Training activities will include various approaches (i.e. physical, hybrid/blended or totally on-line) in order to enable us face future challenges like the current pandemic due to COVID-19. Development of guidelines, recommendations and standardized protocols for optimal use of bioactive feeds are also foreseen in this Action.
Deliverables
Based on the outcomes that will be derived by the development, testing and optimization of the innovative feeding products, a series of policy measures will be developed aiming at the promotion, supporting and enhancement of the use of these products and their respective application practices at a wide scale at European level. The proposed policy measures will focus on the development and financial aspects for the application of the innovative feeding practices covering the industrial part (utilization of agro-waste and by-products to produce the alternative feeding products), as well as the agricultural part (use of the prototype bioactive feeds by livestock farmers). The proposed measures will include among others:
Deliverables
The materials that will be used for the production of the enhanced prototype animal feeds are low value by-products of agricultural activities. These materials, if not used otherwise usually end up in the waste stream. Within this sub-Action a legal requirement analysis will be performed, not only in the project’s implementation countries but also in other EU and non-EU target countries. Scope of this analysis would be to identify and report in the respective deliverable, the legal requirements for the use of this kind of materials in animal feeds and identify all required steps or legal gaps that need to be met for the successful implementation and replication of the project as well as for the future export of the prototype products to countries with different legal requirements.
Deliverables
The project will be constantly monitored with 2 Actions that involve the monitoring and control of all activities in order to ensure the best performance and homogeneity of the methods and actions applied as well the project’s impacts on local economy and society.
Within the project several communication and dissemination actions will be implemented. Information and awareness raising to more than 5,000 people including 50 agricultural industries and 500 livestock farmers is anticipated, through publicity and dissemination actions that include:
