CON.CER. SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA AGRICOLA

Their core work

CON.CER. is an agricultural producers cooperative (Organizzazione di Produttori) based in Foggia, one of southern Italy's most productive grain-farming regions. They represent a network of cereal farmers and operate as a practical bridge between field-level agriculture and research or innovation programmes. In EU projects, they contribute as end-user validators: they provide access to real farming operations, farmer communities, and market-facing agri-food value chain experience that academic or tech partners cannot replicate. Their participation spans both the biological science of crop production (soil health, nutrient cycles, root systems) and the business side of sustainable agriculture (value chain innovation, adoption of new practices).

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first project (SolACE, starting 2017), CON.CER.'s contribution was rooted in the biology and agronomy of crop production — soil microbiomes, root traits, genomic selection, and nutrient cycling. The emphasis was technical and field-oriented, close to the soil and the seed. By the time Ploutos launched in 2020, their involvement had shifted toward the economics and organization of agriculture: sustainable business models, data-driven value chains, and behavioral approaches to innovation uptake. This shift from agronomy to agri-food systems thinking is consistent with a producer cooperative maturing in its understanding of how research gets translated into commercial farming practice.

CON.CER. is moving from pure field-science validation toward a broader role in agri-food system transformation, making them increasingly relevant for projects at the intersection of farming practice, data tools, and market sustainability.

How they like to work

CON.CER. has participated exclusively as a consortium partner — never as a coordinator — across both projects, which is consistent with their identity as a practitioner organization rather than a research lead. Despite this supporting role, they have engaged in very large, internationally diverse consortia: 58 unique partners across 20 countries from just two projects signals that they are sought-after end-user partners in pan-European research programmes. This suggests working with them means gaining access to their farmer network and real-world field infrastructure, but do not expect them to take on project management responsibilities.

CON.CER. has connected with 58 unique partners across 20 countries — a notably broad network for an organization with only two projects, reflecting the large-consortium nature of the Horizon 2020 food and agriculture calls. Their network is pan-European with a practical, farmer-facing orientation rather than an academic one.

What sets them apart

CON.CER. occupies a rare position in EU agri-food research consortia: a genuine agricultural Producer Organization (OP) from one of Italy's most important cereal-producing regions, able to deliver both field trial access and the legitimacy of speaking on behalf of actual farmers. Most research consortia struggle to recruit organizations that can credibly represent end-users at the farm level — CON.CER. fills that gap. For a consortium building a project around crop efficiency, sustainable value chains, or farmer behavior change, they bring the on-the-ground credibility that turns laboratory results into demonstrable real-world impact.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SolACE
  Their largest project (EUR 189,375) tackled water and nutrient efficiency through a combination of genomics, soil microbiome science, and participatory farmer research — a technically ambitious scope that positions CON.CER. as more than a passive end-user.
• Ploutos
  Marked a strategic shift toward data-driven value chain sustainability and business model innovation, showing CON.CER.'s willingness to engage with the commercial and digital transformation of agriculture, not just its production side.