{"id":25370,"date":"2026-03-13T16:15:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/?p=25370"},"modified":"2026-03-13T16:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:15:47","slug":"the-new-cap-and-the-challenge-of-soil-health-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/the-new-cap-and-the-challenge-of-soil-health-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"The New CAP and the Challenge of Soil Health in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A new European study evaluates how the <strong>CAP Strategic Plans 2023\u20132027<\/strong> can improve soil organic matter, reduce erosion, and strengthen the sustainability of agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soil health is a cornerstone of sustainable agriculture and food security in the European Union. Despite its importance, the condition of European soils is a growing concern: according to the EU Soil Observatory, around <strong>62% of soils in the EU are not in good condition<\/strong>, being affected by degradation processes such as erosion, loss of organic matter, and soil compaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this context, the <strong>new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2023\u20132027 period<\/strong> is a key tool for protecting and restoring agricultural soils. A recent study by the EU CAP Network titled <em>\u201cRough estimate of the soil protection potential of the CAP Strategic Plans over the 2023\u20132027 period\u201d<\/em> attempts to assess the potential contribution of the <strong>CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs)<\/strong> to improving soil health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How the contribution of the CAP was evaluated<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study developed a methodology to quantitatively estimate the impact of CAP interventions on soil health. The analysis was based on <strong>six key indicators<\/strong>, reflecting important physical and chemical properties of soil:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>soil organic carbon content<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>soil nitrogen stocks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>water retention capacity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>soil bulk density or compaction<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>nitrogen losses through leaching and runoff<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>soil erosion caused by water<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For each agricultural practice supported by the CAP Strategic Plans, researchers used data from the <strong>JRC Farming Practices Evidence Library<\/strong>, a database that compiles scientific studies on the environmental impacts of agricultural practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The methodology followed four main steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>identifying CAP interventions and <strong>GAEC standards<\/strong> that affect soil<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>matching these interventions with specific agricultural practices<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>estimating the extent of implementation of these practices<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>calculating the overall impact using coefficients that reflect their environmental effects<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The approach was applied in <strong>13 EU Member States<\/strong> in order to cover a wide range of soil and climatic conditions: Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Practices that contribute most to soil health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The results show that several agricultural practices have <strong>significant potential to improve soil properties<\/strong>, especially when implemented over large areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the practices with the greatest benefits are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>retention of crop residues in the field<\/strong>, which improves soil structure and fertility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>cover crops<\/strong>, which help increase soil nitrogen reserves<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>biochar use<\/strong>, which enhances water retention<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>buffer strips<\/strong>, which reduce erosion and nutrient leaching<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>mixed cropping and crop rotation<\/strong>, which increase soil organic carbon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Soil management practices such as <strong>reduced tillage and maintaining vegetation cover<\/strong> appear to contribute particularly strongly to improvements in several soil health indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The role of CAP interventions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study highlights that <strong>eco-schemes<\/strong> have strong potential to improve soil health, as they encourage the adoption of sustainable farming practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, positive effects are associated with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Environmental and Climate-related and Other Management Commitments (ENVCLIM)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>coupled support for protein crops<\/strong>, which contribute to improving soil fertility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>investments in environmentally friendly agricultural practices<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Mandatory <strong>Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC)<\/strong> standards also play an important role, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>GAEC 5<\/strong> \u2013 soil tillage management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>GAEC 6<\/strong> \u2013 minimum soil cover during sensitive periods<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>GAEC 7<\/strong> \u2013 crop rotation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Crop rotation, in particular, is estimated to significantly contribute to increasing <strong>soil organic matter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First quantitative results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The analysis indicates that the interventions included in the CAP Strategic Plans could lead to <strong>significant improvements in key soil health indicators<\/strong>. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>soil organic carbon content<\/strong> in agricultural soils could increase by up to <strong>1.59% annually<\/strong> in some Member States<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>soil nitrogen stocks<\/strong> could also increase significantly, with some countries reaching up to <strong>4.81% annual growth<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>at the same time, there is a <strong>notable reduction in erosion and nutrient losses<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, these impacts vary considerably among countries, reflecting differences in agricultural practices, soil characteristics, and national strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusions and next steps<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study shows that <strong>CAP Strategic Plans can play an important role in improving the health of European agricultural soils<\/strong>. However, the results should be considered <strong>preliminary estimates<\/strong>, as they are mainly based on planned data rather than the actual implementation of measures by farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more accurate evaluations in the future, the following will be required:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>data on the <strong>actual uptake of measures<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>improved <strong>monitoring of soil conditions<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>further development of <strong>scientific databases and assessment tools<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This research represents <strong>a first step toward creating a more comprehensive soil health monitoring system in the European Union<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong><br>EU CAP Network supported by the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new European study evaluates how the CAP Strategic Plans 2023\u20132027 can improve soil organic matter, reduce erosion, and strengthen the sustainability of agriculture. Soil health is a cornerstone of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25371,"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25370\/revisions\/25371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macc.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}