Productive Resilient Orchards for Factor-efficient and Innovative Transition

European fruit growers increasingly face competitiveness challenges driven by climate extremes, rising input costs, and declining resource efficiency. The project aims to develop and validate dynamic protection technologies and agronomic practices that enhance the efficient and sustainable use of key production factors — water, energy, and plant protection inputs — while safeguarding crop quality and yield stability.

The innovation introduces a prototype of a semi-permanent, automated orchard protection system that dynamically adjusts to environmental conditions, ensuring real-time microclimate regulation and energy optimization through integrated photovoltaics. This system enables targeted protection against multiple risks (frost, heat, hail, wind, rainfall) while maintaining optimal physiological conditions for fruit trees.

Beyond technology, the project will establish cost-effective and replicable business models demonstrating improved total factor productivity (TFP) and environmental sustainability. A multi-actor approach involving farmers, cooperatives, researchers, advisors, and SMEs will ensure co-creation, field validation, and rapid adaptation of the innovation to diverse production systems.

The project will assess environmental, social, and economic impacts, identify barriers and enablers for large-scale adoption, and propose strategies for deployment, commercialization, and policy alignment with the EU Green Deal and CAP objectives. Results will be communicated through digital platforms, demonstration orchards, and farmer-oriented training programs, fostering the transition to resilient, efficient, and climate-smart orchard systems across Europe.