The ECONUTRI project has been designed to scientifically support the objectives of the EU Green Deal, in particular the target to reduce nutrient losses from organic biomass and crop fertilization by 50%, while also reducing fertilizer use by at least 20% by 2030. To contribute to this ambition, ECONUTRI develops, optimizes, validates and demonstrates 24 innovative technologies with strong potential to reduce nutrient emissions in agriculture and improve nutrient use efficiency. Most of these innovations build on earlier research and nature-based solutions with an initial TRL of 4–6, and are being advanced through the project towards TRL 7–9 under operational conditions.

Taken together, these technologies form an integrated and holistic system for sustainable nutrient management in agriculture. They combine recycling of nutrients and organic materials, biowaste valorisation, novel fertilizers and additives, precision and variable-rate application technologies, decision support systems (DSS) for irrigation and fertilization, greenhouse and soilless crop management tools, and practices to mitigate ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions from barns, manure, storage and field application. In this way, ECONUTRI addresses the nutrient cycle as a whole, from waste recovery and fertilizer formulation to crop uptake, water management, emission reduction and practical on-farm implementation.

To make these innovations easier to communicate and use in practice, 30 Practice Abstracts (PAs) have been prepared, presenting concise and application-oriented information on technologies considered sufficiently mature for practical uptake. Most of the abstracts follow a common structure, covering the background/problem addressed, the suggested ECONUTRI solution, the main limitations for commercial application, and the future outlook. This makes them particularly useful as short knowledge-transfer tools for end users and intermediaries.

For clarity and scientific coherence, the 30 abstracts have been grouped into specific thematic areas reflecting the main research domains of ECONUTRI. These include:

Group 1: Circular nutrient recovery and biowaste valorisation
Brings together abstracts on waste-to-resource conversion, composting, digestate treatment, and nutrient recovery.

Group 2: Precision fertilization and variable-rate nutrient application
Focuses on precision agriculture tools for applying fertilizer at the right rate and place.

Group 3: Greenhouse fertigation, irrigation and DSS-based crop management
Is clearly about greenhouse nutrient and irrigation control, especially DSS tools, fertigation, recirculation, and soilless/soil-grown protected cropping.

Group 4: Cropping systems, soil fertility and biologically based nutrient-use-efficiency improvement
Covers agronomic and biological strategies to improve nutrient use efficiency through legumes, biofertilisers, plant bioactives, humic substances, and organic practices.

Group 5: Livestock, manure and emission mitigation technologies
Gathers technologies aimed at reducing gaseous emissions from barns, manure, storage, and livestock systems

This grouping highlights that ECONUTRI is not based on isolated innovations, but on a set of complementary solutions that together support the transition towards a more circular, resource-efficient and low-emission agricultural system.

The Practice Abstracts describe concisely the 24 technologies commissioned to contribute to the reduction of nutrient pollution and emissions in agriculture, in a style that can be understood by non-experts, and especially by growers and other professionals in the agri-food chain.