Phasing out contentious inputs from agriculture in Europe – and beyond? Examples from the 4-year research project Organic-PLUS

Across Europe, there has been an ongoing discussion regarding inputs into organic agriculture and horticulture. These discussions led to the European Horizon-2020 research programme to invest 8 million Euros into two 4-year projects: RELACS and Organic-PLUS. Both started in 2018 and are running till end of 2022. Here we discuss research approaches and results from Organic-PLUS. The focus is on research relevant to organic agriculture and horticulture. It is also relevant to non-organic agriculture. This includes alternatives to the use of copper and mineral oils used for plant protection, with a special focus on potatoes, perennial Mediterranean crops like olives and citrus and greenhouse crops like tomatoes and aubergines. The oral presentation invites discussion on further contentious inputs and possible phase-out scenarios and their impact on agriculture outside of Europe.