Seven new rural innovation group projects chosen

The projects are set to produce instructions for calculating the carbon footprint of recycled fertilisers and a product for reducing intestinal disorders in horses, among other things.The selection group for rural innovation groups has presented seven new rural innovation group projects, or EIP projects, for funding. Applications will be held in autumn 2021.
The projects approved in this round of applications will be funded from additional funding received from the EU’s recovery funds, which means new EIP projects will also be promoting digitalisation, the transition to environmentally friendly solutions and/or resilience.

The solutions created by the projects funded in this application round are set to include instructions for calculating the carbon footprint of recycled fertilisers and a product for reducing intestinal disorders in horses.

What is a rural innovation group?

The goal of rural innovation groups, or EIP (European Innovation Partnership) groups, is to solve an identified problem related to primary production, possibly also creating a new innovation or operating model.

The solutions developed by EIP projects are based on the needs of primary production companies and are related to improving the agriculture or forestry industry or advancing the bioeconomy.

The next application round will open in February 2022

Another one or two EIP project application rounds will be held in 2022 with the recovery funding from the Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland 2014–2020. The next application round will be organised in two stages, and the idea application round will open at the beginning of February 2022.

After 2022, EIP funding will continue as part of Finland’s CAP plan in 2023–2027.

Funded rural innovation group projects:

Development of instructions and a calculator for calculating the carbon footprint of recycled fertilisers – Finnish Biocycle and Biogas Association

  • The project will work together with stakeholders to create instructions for calculating the carbon footprint of recycled fertilisers and a demo calculator.

Digital leap in cattle feeding – Wikli Group Oy

  • The goal of the project is to create an automated feeding system in which the cows’ health and the quality of feed they receive is tracked and any changes are balanced based on this information.

Intestinal health and wellbeing of horses. Can a product that maintains or improves horses’ intestinal health be developed from fresh mash – Finnish Equine Information Centre

  • The project seeks to develop a product that treats and helps prevent horses’ intestinal disorders for primary producers, i.e. stables.

Improving and securing EIP agriculture primary production using new nanobubble technology – Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

  • The goal of the project is to develop a technology to produce nanoscale gas bubbles in irrigation water and research the technology’s practical functionality for crop and berry cultivation companies.

Wood2Biogas – Häme University of Applied Sciences Oy

  • The goal of the project is to improve the profitability of biogas plants that use agricultural biomass by expanding the base of raw materials and improving biomethane production without producing additional digestate.

Creating a virtual learning environment for cattle health and wellbeing – Arador Innovation ltd Oy

  • The goal is to develop a new way of communicating scientific information useful to agricultural producers regarding the health and wellbeing of cattle using a virtual learning environment.

UVC technology in controlling strawberry diseases – Natural Resources Institute Finland

  • The goal of the project is to develop an alternative method to using chemical plant protectants based on UVC technology.

The Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland 2014–2020 has funded a total of 19 EIP projects.

Further information:
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry:

Leena Anttila, tel. +358 29 516 2240, firstname.lastname@gov.fi

Häme Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment:

Lassi Hurskainen, tel. +358 29 502 5046

Kaisa Tolonen, tel. +358 29 502 5022, firstname.lastname@gov.fi

Date updated: Feb 2, 2022