OPER8

OPER8 – European Thematic Network on Alternative Weed Control was a Horizon 2021‑funded EU project (Grant ID: 101060591) that ran from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2025, coordinated by the Agricultural University of Athens. It set out to unlock the full potential of Operational Groups (OGs) to develop, assess and promote effective alternative weed control methods across Europe.

Why OPER8 matters:
Farmers require effective, practical non‑chemical weed control options. OPER8 built a European network to collect, validate, and share robust, field‑tested alternatives – from cultural techniques (cover crops, mulches) to precision mechanical and electrical systems – to support sustainable cropping systems.

Core Aims

Widely share information using multimedia outputs and stakeholder events.
Establish a self‑sustaining EU‑wide thematic network linking researchers, advisors, growers and stakeholders across 7 countries.
Collate and assess alternative weed control solutions from 8 Operational Groups.
Identify barriers and drivers to adoption and co‑create best practices.

Key Project Outputs & Resources

The OPER8 project produced a substantial and freely accessible suite of materials designed to support farmers, agronomists, advisors and policy makers:

Knowledge Bank & Digital Inventory

Explore a central repository of resources, including fact sheets, videos, podcasts and practice abstracts — searchable by crop type and content format:
OPER8 Knowledge Bank – Resources

Key resource categories include:

Fact Sheets detailing alternative weed control methods
Practice Abstracts summarising real‑world examples
Demonstration Videos sharing techniques from across Europe
Podcasts exploring practitioner insights
E‑learning Module (with certificate) for deeper learning
Inventory Page with >700 scientific publications and studies

Webinars

Hosted as part of the OPER8 dissemination programme to share knowledge across countries and systems:

Webinar #1 – Electric Weeding case studies
Webinar #2 – Cover Crops Across Europe
Webinar #3 – Robotics for Weed Control
Webinar #5 – Cultural Control and Mulching Solutions

See all recorded sessions on the OPER8 webinars page

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Assessment & Best Practices

OPER8 completed an assessment phase with national and EU workshops, identifying diversified solutions (cultural controls, living mulches, mechanical and robotic weeding) and selecting them for cost‑benefit analysis and further demonstration material:
First outputs from the assessment phase (with practical strategies across crop types).

Project Reports & Impact

Periodic reports and synthesis outputs are available via the CORDIS EU project page, detailing network creation, stakeholder engagement, and methodology for uptake of alternative weed management solutions.

Operational Groups & Collaborative Activities

OPER8 bought together 8 Operational Groups across 7 EU countries, spanning a diversity of agro‑ecosystems:
View the full list of OGs and their focus topics: Oper8 Operational Groups

Examples include:

Camera‑guided mechanical weeding (UK)
Electrical Weed Control (UK)
Robot‑assisted weed platforms (Latvia)
Cover crops and mulching under vines (France)
Ecological control strategies (Spain)
… and more region‑specific methods across Italy and Sweden.

The Organic Research Centre’s Involvement

The Organic Research Centre played an active role in OPER8, particularly through knowledge exchange, demonstration activities, resource creation and outreach.

Highlight of ORC Contributions

ORC’s participation via Agricology to disseminate best practices built from Oper8 outputs.
Hosting and co‑hosting national workshops and demo days, such as the UK Alternative Weed Control Workshop (with ADAS) where stakeholders evaluated non‑chemical weeding methods.
Presenting at Oper8 webinars, notably delivering insights on living mulch strategies.
Producing practical resources like the Competitive cultivars in arable crops video and guide (which discusses traits that enhance weed competition).

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How to Access Key OPER8 Materials

Here are direct links to essential project resources:

OPER8 represented a major collaborative effort across Europe to bring science, practice and innovation together to accelerate adoption of alternative weed management techniques. The Organic Research Centre’s involvement helped bridge research and practical adoption, ensuring outputs are shared widely with farmers, advisors and the wider agricultural community.

These resources, from webinars to e‑learning modules, are freely available and form a comprehensive suite supporting sustainable weed management now and into the future

Project leader and partners:

Project leader: Agriculture University of Athens.

Partners:

Related News Posts:

Related Resources:

Project leader and partners:

ORC Team involved with this project