HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-01: Increasing the resilience of agriculture in water and nutrient-scarce environments through digital innovations

HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-01: Increasing the resilience of agriculture in water and nutrient-scarce environments through digital innovations

This is a Horizon Europe Cluster 6 topic under the EU work programme for 2026–2027, published in the official Horizon Europe topic list. It has a declared budget of €12,000,000, opens through the Funding & Tenders process as part of Call 02 - single stage (2027), and is associated with the call identifier HORIZON-CL6-2027-02. The listed submission date is 23 September 2027 (close 02:00).

If your team builds AI-enabled decision support tools, farm data systems, precision monitoring methods, or policy-facing adoption pathways for sustainable nutrient and water management, this is a strong strategic fit.

Key details at a glance

What this opportunity is about

This call is explicitly focused on one concrete gap: resilience to scarcity conditions in European farming systems. The topic text names three operational objectives that anchor the expected impact:

• Improve how farmers access practical digital tools and advisory input for water and nutrient decision-making.
• Help local agriculture better adapt to climate stress and price volatility through better farm decision support.
• Reduce environmental pressure by improving input management and lowering pollution and mineral fertiliser dependency.

The topic page also frames this as a systemic challenge, not a narrow tool-building exercise. Proposals are expected to combine science and deployment:

• Understand plant–soil–water–air–nutrients interactions under climate pressure.
• Develop and test monitoring and data systems that are compatible with farm management tools already used on the ground.
• Build AI-enabled systems that support practical recommendations for farm managers.
• Generate high-quality training data sets for further decision-support development.
• Address adoption barriers (trust, transparency, accessibility, and user needs), and document knowledge/training gaps.

The important nuance is that this is not only about inventing new models. It is about translating agricultural intelligence into usable outputs for real farms, including conditions that affect uptake: affordability, digital access constraints, user interfaces for diverse communities, and practical policy learning loops.

Why this matters for applicants in 2027 planning

By 2027, many agricultural innovation teams are already proposing tools for precision agriculture and sustainability transitions. This topic helps those teams go one step further by forcing explicit alignment with climate resilience and end-user realities.

What makes it distinctive versus broader AI or digital agriculture calls:

• It is specifically mapped to scarcity conditions (water and nutrients), not generic farming digitisation.
• It requires a balanced actor mix, so purely technical teams are unlikely to pass the threshold without agronomic and implementation partners.
• It explicitly asks for outcomes tied to resilience, competitiveness, and ecological benefit.
• It is explicitly part of a single-stage topic listing, so there is no separate preliminary “outline only” stage.

If your team is deciding whether to target this call versus adjacent agri innovation programs, this topic is most suitable when your approach includes both:

1. technical design for operational decision-support, and
2. a validated route to farmer-level and policy-level uptake.

If your work is still purely exploratory with no testbed or deployment plan, this topic may be too constrained.

Eligibility and who should apply

The call-specific text and Horizon Europe guidance indicate several concrete constraints you should treat as mandatory planning assumptions:

• Collaborative minimum: For most Horizon calls, applications must be submitted as at least 3 partner organisations from 3 different EU/associated countries, and at least one partner must be from the EU.
• Operational and financial capacity: Any legal entity can apply in principle, but only if it can credibly deliver what it proposes.
• Coordinator requirement: Every consortium must assign a coordinator.
• Topic-specific actor mix: This topic asks for a multi-actor consortium with farmers, researchers, advisors, technology providers, and business partners.

From a practical perspective, this means teams should align with one of these patterns:

• University + agri-tech SME + farm network/producer organisation.
• National agri-research institute + advisory service + software provider.
• Civil innovation consortium (public authority + civil society actor + private deployment partner).

The official topic text also explicitly notes that projects should cover multiple farming systems and include at least one organic farming angle. If you do not have at least one concrete pathway for organic system relevance, you can still apply, but your proposal should explain how your digital system transfers across diverse systems and why this is scientifically valid.

What kinds of teams are strongest for this topic

Horizon Europe proposals are assessed beyond technical performance. The strongest proposals in this thematic area usually combine these roles:

• Lead scientific applicant: brings agronomy/domain science and climate adaptation framing.
• Data and AI design partner: responsible for models, sensors integration, and data pipeline quality.
• Adoption partner: provides advisor/farmer-facing delivery channels and policy/extension knowledge.
• Deployment and testing partner: provides field access and heterogeneous geographies.
• Evaluation/impact partner: contributes impact measurement methods and validation strategy.

The topic also encourages linkage to European digital structures (for example European Data Spaces and relevant infrastructures) where suitable. Even if you do not have direct ties to these ecosystems, your proposal should include compatibility and interoperability principles.

Application process and timeline

The general Horizon Europe process applies to this topic and is documented on the REA guidance pages:

1. Confirm topic fit in the official call page and supporting programme documents.
2. Build the consortium and check eligibility (minimum three legal entities from different countries).
3. Register on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
4. Submit the full proposal before the deadline (single-stage format).
5. Wait through evaluation and proposal review.

For this topic, the topic listing shows it under single-stage 2027 with a published close date. As this is an upcoming cycle relative to the current date, candidates should track official portal updates for any changes and confirm whether an amendment or updated deadline appears before submission.

Suggested internal planning timeline (backward from 23 September 2027):

• Now to Month T-6 months: establish consortium and governance, define country-level partner commitments, map division of work.
• T-5 to T-4 months: convert the call text into measurable work package objectives; prepare ethical and data governance assumptions.
• T-4 to T-2 months: complete draft proposal narrative and collect partner confirmations.
• T-2 months to T-2 weeks: do review cycles focused on admissibility checks and budget-to-workload coherence.
• T-1 week: full technical and portal dry-run submission.

The official REA guidance states that applications are evaluated by expert panels, and that grant agreement signature can take months after selection. Plan for post-award implementation lead time as part of your strategy.

Proposal strategy: how to make this topic work

1) Start from the outcomes, not from the technology

A common failure mode in agricultural RIA calls is overbuilding models and under-defining pathway-to-adoption. The topic’s expected outcomes are explicit and should be mirrored in your architecture:

• measurable decision support improvements for input use,
• resilience under climate stress,
• pollution reduction co-benefits,
• better farmer-level usability.

Map each requested research task to a measurable outcome and to partner responsibilities.

2) Build the field logic before adding complexity

The topic asks for solutions that can be used across different pedoclimatic regions and farm systems. This means your pilot design should include heterogeneity:

• at least one arable context with irrigation pressure,
• one context with lower digital connectivity,
• one system where data quality and legacy systems differ.

If your pilot network cannot cover this, you should either narrow your scope or explicitly justify phased extension.

3) Make AI components deployment-aware

AI-enabled tools are explicitly referenced in the topic text. Reviewer concerns often focus on reproducibility and explainability. Include:

• data quality plan for training and validation,
• governance for bias and uncertainty,
• interfaces for low-connectivity or accessibility-constrained users,
• interpretation layer for non-technical users.

4) Treat SSH contributions as essential, not optional

This topic requires meaningful Social Sciences and Humanities contribution. Include behavioral, advisory, and social uptake components, not just agronomic performance metrics.

5) Use TRL language correctly

The call text identifies activities expected to reach TRL 4–5 by project end. Make sure your technical plan does not overpromise commercialization-ready outcomes if your readiness trajectory is lower. Instead, show concrete validation steps that reach the target state.

Eligibility and review readiness checklist (officially grounded)

Use this to prepare your draft package against common admissibility checks:

• Minimum consortium size/country composition is documented and stable.
• At least one partner is clearly able to represent farmer-facing implementation.
• Multi-actor approach is embedded in the plan, not just listed.
• Budget aligns with the project work and includes implementation capacity for each WP.
• Work plan includes policy-relevant and practical uptake outputs (not only publications).
• Data, ethics, and security are explicitly addressed in the project design.

From Horizon guidance, all applicants should also review the topic-specific page for any additional exceptions or specific admissibility requirements before final submission.

Common mistakes to avoid (and what reviewers punish)

Drawing from Horizon Europe funding guidance and call-level requirements, avoid these mistakes:

1. Proposal not aligned to the call scope

If your project focuses on generic digital agriculture without explicit water and nutrient scarcity outcomes, it will look misaligned.

2. Weak consortium logic

A technically strong set without farmers/advisors/public implementation actors is likely to be rated poorly for this topic.

3. Incorrect assumptions on funding model

This topic is shown as HORIZON-RIA under HORIZON-Lump-Sum grant mechanics. Treat template, budget logic, and admissibility constraints as model-specific.

4. Missing page and proposal rule compliance

Commonly rejected proposals fail simple format or template requirements. Ensure you follow the specific portal templates and the Horizon model rules.

5. Last-minute submission

Portal issues, validation failures and missing partner data are common near deadlines. Budgeting, partner signoff, and legal/compliance sections should be completed early.

6. Underplaying ethical and social readiness

Horizon guidance expects applicants to treat ethics, open science, gender dimension (where relevant), and data transparency as part of proposal quality, not appendices.

Frequently asked questions

Is this likely an “upcoming” 2027 call or a legacy 2026 call?

The official listing on the Horizon Europe topic page identifies this as Call 02 (2027) with open date in April 2027 and closing 23 September 2027.

Can non-EU organisations apply?

For most calls, this call type still requires a consortium with at least 3 organisations from EU/associated countries and at least one EU participant. Additional non-EU participants may sometimes be possible depending on topic rules. Confirm final partner composition with the official call page and REA guidance.

Is this a two-stage proposal?

The topic list identifies it as a single-stage listing. In a general Horizon process, some calls are two-stage and some are single-stage, so always verify the exact application profile in the call-specific portal page before submission.

What funding share can we expect?

The official REA guidance distinguishes model types; this topic is listed as RIA with HORIZON-AG-LS. Use the portal and grant agreement references for any exact rates and budget implications.

Do I need public bodies or can universities and private firms apply?

Yes, any type of organisation can apply if capable. The topic text strongly favours balanced multi-stakeholder participation including farmers, advisors, and enterprises.

Practical next steps before submission

1. Read the official topic card in detail and download all attached documents from the official portal page.
2. Verify whether your chosen consortium meets the 3-country minimum and sector mix requirements.
3. Create a single narrative: problem -> system architecture -> pilot plan -> deployment pathway.
4. Add adoption channels and policy-learning sections; reviewers in this call set value implementation readiness.
5. Prepare a one-page internal “compliance map” matching each call requirement to where it is addressed in the proposal.
6. Do a full proposal dry-run in the portal before final upload.

Official links

• Official topic page: https://www.horizon-europe.gouv.fr/increasing-resilience-agriculture-water-and-nutrient-scarce-environments-through-digital
• Funding and Tenders portal topic reference: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-cl6-2027-02-farm2fork-01
• Horizon Europe: How to apply (official REA guidance): https://rea.ec.europa.eu/horizon-europe-how-apply_en
• Who should apply (official eligibility summary): https://rea.ec.europa.eu/horizon-europe-who-should-apply_en
• Dos and don’ts for Horizon proposal preparation: https://rea.ec.europa.eu/dos-and-donts-when-applying-funding_en