Call for research projects Ecophyto Maturation - ECOM 2025

To contribute to achieving the goals of the Ecophyto 2030 Strategy by building on research outcomes, the Ministries responsible for research (MESR), agriculture (MASAF), ecological transition (MTEECPR), and health (MSA) are launching the fourth edition of the "Ecophyto Maturation" (ECOM) call for projects. Managed by the ANR and co-financed by the OFB, this programme promotes the emergence of innovative, operational, and deployable solutions to reduce the use and impact of pesticides.

The "Ecophyto Maturation" Calls for projects aim at supporting the valorisation of scientific work that has already been successfully completed, with the goal of operationalizing a solution to a stage where it can be adopted through products, technologies, methodologies, or services. This fourth edition focuses on innovations to help achieve the objectives of Ecophyto 2030: it covers all themes applicable to the reduction of plant protection product uses and/or the reduction of associated risks and impacts on health or the environment.

To meet these objectives, projects must aim at developing and advancing the maturity of a solution, starting from a proof of concept based on previous scientific work. The solution's operational feasibility must be demonstrated under real-world conditions, while also ensuring that it addresses the needs of clearly identified end-users.

This fourth edition includes the following topics:

• Topic 1 "Technical/Technological Innovations" in support of Ecophyto. Any research aiming at an operational objective aligned with the Ecophyto 2030 Strategy will be eligible. For this edition, particular emphasis is placed on innovations aimed at reducing environmental deposition and the transfer of plant protection products, including the decontamination of environmental matrices (remediation).
• Topic 2 "Social, Organizational, and Public Policy Innovations" which focuses on selecting projects that specifically engage the social sciences and humanities, placing them at the heart of the projects (without excluding the use of biotechnical sciences in a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary approach). The goal will be to develop and mature methods, tools, or services (including those related to public policies) that can contribute to mobilizing and organizing stakeholders (at the level of a company, value chain, or territory) to accelerate and amplify the transition toward systems that are more resource-efficient and sustainable in terms of risk and impact in the use of PPPs.

The consortia must include at least one "research partner " and at least one "socio-economic actor" (private companies, technical centers and institutes, professional organizations, chambers of commerce, associations, etc.).