From broccoli fields to greenhouse innovation: iCOSHELLs visit to Cartagena & Almería
As part of iCOSHELLs WP2 activities, our consortium partner participated in a visit to the South-Eastern Spain Soil Health Living Lab, GREENNOMED (Green Innovative solutions in Mediterranean environments), with field stops in Cartagena and Almería. The Living Lab operates in a semi-arid Mediterranean context where soil health has been impacted by decades of intensive agricultural practices, alongside rising climate pressures such as hotter extremes, longer droughts, and increased flood risk.
In the Cartagena area, the visit included a grapefruit farm during harvest, offering a timely view of how soil stewardship connects to fruit quality and long-term orchard resilience. The group also toured a broccoli farm, where growers described seasonal crop sequencing that commonly alternates broccoli (cool season) with melon (warm season) in irrigated rotations. This rotation helps balance soil “pressure” and nutrient demand: different crops have different rooting patterns and nutrient uptake timing, which can reduce the risk of repeatedly stressing the soil in the same way season after season. Evidence from research on melon–broccoli rotation also suggests it can support soil biological and chemical balance, helping “equilibrate” the soil microenvironment compared with continuous melon cropping, with soil factors such as pH, soluble salts, and soil organic carbon linked to shifts in microbial community structure.
A key regional driver is the need to reduce environmental pressures on Mar Menor, which is vulnerable to nutrient-driven impacts and protected through special environmental regulations. GREENNOMED therefore focuses strongly on reversing declines in soil organic matter and biodiversity, while testing practical solutions that keep farming viable. As highlighted during the visit, “GREENNOMED brings together farmers and researchers to test regenerative practices and smarter fertigation in Mediterranean production systems where soil organic matter and biodiversity are under pressure.”
In Almería, the visit continued at the experimental sites of Fundación Cajamar, where applied research is helping growers tackle real constraints in greenhouse horticulture. Demonstrations focused on organic pest control options and improved irrigation systems for peppers, aligning with GREENNOMED’s emphasis on natural pesticides, optimised fertigation management, and improved nutrient efficiency while aiming to avoid pollution of underground water bodies.
What is the focus of GREENOMED?
Regenerative farming practices, natural pest control solutions, smarter fertigation and nutrient protocols to mobilise soil nutrients, and biodiversity-friendly management tracked through measurable soil health outcomes and environmental performance.
