Adapting oats to final Frontier

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Northern Periphery and Arctic

Date of latest update: 2025-09-24

Description

Description (EN):

Our objective is to increase possibilities for oat cultivation within the NPA region. Oat is selected because it has well recognized positive health effects and its consumption for food is increasing and oat is also a resilient crop that demands less fungicides and tolerates lower soil pH compared to wheat and barley. Our consortium representing both local plant breeders and R&D partners across NPA countries has unique oat-expertise and uniquely diverse oat material needed to overcome the greatest obstacles limiting the cultivation: lack of adapted cultivars and lack of knowledge on oat cultivation. Ee will gather and test a set of 400 oats that have unseen diversity coming from four separate sources including modern oat cultivars, landraces and crosses with wild oat relatives. We will use new genetic information produced by sequencing together with field performance data that we will gather from 8 different NPA locations.

Actual Achievements (EN):

In the first project period OatFrontiers project focused on analysing and selecting available material for the project and planning and agreeing upon common play rules. In addition we also started to spread information about the project. More than 400 different oats were genotyped at Luke and the data was analysed together with data from Nordgen collection and Irish heritage oats by LU and Luke. As a result we were able to determine a collection of genetically highly variable oat lines (here on called as OatFrontiers CORE) that was sent for field trials for 8 partners and 1 associate partner and that will be utilised in the search of new oat traits that help in the future field performance and quality production in the extreme conditions of Northern periphery areas. In collaboration with the plant breeder partners (Boreal, Graminor, LM, Goldcrop), Teagasc and new collaborators such as Aberyswyth university in Wales and a company representing their cultivars (Senova) we selected 30 common cultivars to be tested across the NPA in order to determine the best cultivars from the currently available material. Joint practices of field trials (how the field trials should be managed, when and how things should be measured from the fields) were agreed upon and we also made a plan for long term storage of project data. Newsletters, field days and the 1st stakeholder workshop were designed and the 1st newsletter was distributed in all participating countries. WIthin period 2 the project started pilot experiments in all participating countries, organized field days and stakeholder workshop that brought together a high number of stakeholders. All partners actively participated to project implementation and held on to their tasks. True collaboration between breeding enterprises, universities and reseach institutions belonging to project partners was already achieved. The first set of pilot experiments created promising preliminary information about oat performance in different NPA locations. Field events, newsletter and the stakeholder workshop were utilised for communicating about the project. First face-to-face project meeting in Iceland was successfull and increased the spirit of the collaboration. .

Project outputs: A toolbox for breeding adapted, high-quality and resilient cultivars for NPA (EN)
Unique oat material piloted for adaptation, quality and cultivars across the NPA (EN)
Network increasing oat production within the NPA

(EN)
OatFrontiers Enterprises cooperating with Research organisations(EN)

Thematic information

Agriculture and fisheries and forestry

Priority: (VI-B_NPaA_1) Strengthening the innovation capacity for resilient and attractive NPA communities

Priority specific objective: RSO1.1. Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO1 A more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity

Type of intervention: 028 Technology transfer and cooperation between enterprises, research centres and higher education sector

Partners (10)

Lead Partner: Luonnonvarakeskus

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 934887262

Partner’s ID if not PIC: FI02446292

Department: Natural Resources / Plant health

Address: Latokartanonkaari , 00790 Helsinki, Finland

Department address: Survontie, 40500 Jyväskylä, Finland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.luke.fi/en

Total budget: EUR 280 453.80

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 182 294.97

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 98 158.83

Lund University

Name: Lund University

Department: Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry,

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999901318

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE202100321101

Address: Box , SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden

Department address: Naturvetarvägen, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.lu.se

Total budget: EUR 100 058.40

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 65 037.96

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 35 020.44

Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi

Name: Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi

Department: Division of Food Production and Society/Department of Grain and Forage Seed Agronomy

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999754848

Partner’s ID if not PIC: NO988983837MVA

Address: Høgskoleveien, NO-1431 Ås, Norway

Department address: Nylinna, NO-2849 Kapp, Norway

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.nibio.no/

Total budget: EUR 162 111.40

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 81 055.70

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 50.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 81 055.70

Boreal Kasvinjalostus Oy

Name: Boreal Kasvinjalostus Oy

Department: -

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 951447878

Partner’s ID if not PIC: FI15701192

Address: Myllytie, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Enterprise, except SME

Website: http://www.boreal.fi

Total budget: EUR 101 038.30

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 65 674.89

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 35 363.41

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20

University College Dublin

Name: University College Dublin

Department: School of Biology and Environmental Science

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999974359

Partner’s ID if not PIC: IE.6517386K

Address: University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.ucd.ie/about-ucd/

Total budget: EUR 184 447.88

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 119 891.12

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 64 556.76

Teagasc – Agriculture and Food Development Authority

Name: Teagasc – Agriculture and Food Development Authority

Department: Crop Science Department

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999466952

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 0650202O

Address: Teagasc, Oak Park , Carlow R93 XE12, Ireland, Ireland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Sectoral agency

Website: http://www.teagasc.ie

Total budget: EUR 228 774.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 148 703.10

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 80 070.90

Lantmännen ek för

Name: Lantmännen ek för

Department: Plant breeding department

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 915236905

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE769605285601

Address: Box , SE-104 92 Stockholm, Sweden

Department address: Udda Lundqvist väg , 268 81 Svalöv, Sweden

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Enterprise, except SME

Website: http://www.lantmannen.com

Total budget: EUR 180 154.04

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 117 100.12

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 63 053.92

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20

Graminor AS

Name: Graminor AS

Department: DEPT. Research and development

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 968428019

Partner’s ID if not PIC: NO967247359MVA

Address: Hommelstadvegen , 2322 Ridabu , Norway

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Enterprise, except SME

Website: http://www.graminor.no

Total budget: EUR 104 140.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 52 070.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 50.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 52 070.00

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20

Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet

Name: Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet

Department: Faculty of Biosciences

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999902967

Partner’s ID if not PIC: NO969159570

Address: Universitetstunet, NO-1433 Ås, Norway

Department address: Oluf Thesens vei , NO-1433 Ås, Norway

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.nmbu.no/

Total budget: EUR 169 857.52

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 84 928.76

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 50.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 84 928.76

Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands

Name: Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands

Department: -

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 988542036

Partner’s ID if not PIC: Kt. 411204-3590

Address: Hvanneyri, 311 Borgarbyggð , Iceland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.lbhi.is

Total budget: EUR 170 016.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 110 510.40

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 59 505.60

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Lund University

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Boreal Plant Breeding Ltd.

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

University College Dublin

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Teagasc – Agriculture and Food Development Authority

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Lantmannen

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Graminor Ltd.

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Agricultural University of Iceland

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Partners and Projects info

Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Adapting oats to final Frontier

Project acronym: OatFrontiers

Project ID: NPA0500123

Project start date: 2023-12-01

Project end date: 2026-11-30

Project status: ongoing

Relevant linked projects:

Healthy Oats is a research project promoting the development of oats as a healthy food product and a climate-resistant crop in Wales and Ireland (funded by Interreg Ireland-Wales program). It surveys consumer attitudes to oat products in current and future climate scenarios, helping industry develop new products, to demonstrate their health benefits, and to evaluate how policy can promote sustainable oat product production (EN) | OatFrontiers complements the project in identifying suitable breeding germplasm whereas Healthy Oats has promoted the use of oats and developed good practises and networks across Ireland that we will apply and strenghten especially in the Southern and Western parts of Ireland. (EN), The project Northern Cereals – New Markets for a Changing Environment (CEREAL) was supported by the Northern Periphery and Arctic programme. Partners came from Iceland, Northern Norway, Faroe Islands, Scotland (Orkney) and Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador). The project objectives were to: (1) Increase the value of products from the cereal value chain and thereby increase the income of farmers and SMEs. (2) Expand cereal production to new locations and thereby increase the number of jobs. (3) Increase cereal utilisation for new products and thereby increase the number of jobs.One of the main challenges addressed by the project was the lack of knowledge about growing and processing cereals under very demanding northern maritime conditions.
The main outputs from the project were increased numbers of farmers growing cereals for feed, malting or milling and the production of higher value cereal products like seed, malt, food and beverages. These changes were to increase employment, income and consumer choice in rural areas. The main beneficiaries were growers and their local communities, SMEs and consumers. The project started in 2015 and ended in 2018. (EN) | OatFrontiers makes use of the findings within the CEREAL project in e.g. knowledge sharing activities. The project aims were to increase the value of cereal products, expand cereal production to new regions and increase utilization of cereal for new products by addressing the main issue: lack of cultivation knowledge. The project also found that one of the main constraints was the lack of adapted cultivars. (EN), ScanOats is a Swedish industrial research center, conducting oat research ranging from oat genomics, development of new oat varieties, breeding strategies, processing of oats and oat health studies. Within the oat genomics part of ScanOats the Sang oat genome was sequenced, and a current project is investigating the Nordic oat diversity using genotyping-by-sequencing, with a pipeline for marker analysis having been set up. (EN) | OatFrontiers will make use of knowledge on oat diversity originating from ScanOats. This information will facilitate the choice of the best oat cultivars to be included. OatFrontiers will also have use of the established pipeline for marker analysis developed within ScanOats. (EN), Oat Pangenome project (PanOat) - PanOat, led by dr. Martin Mascher (IPK, Gatersleben, Germany) is initiative among oat researchers worldwide that resulted in creating

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 681 051.34

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 698 702.16

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 65.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 698 702.16. Co-financing rate, 65.00%.
ERDF equivalent: Amount, EUR 110 510.40. Co-financing rate, 65.00%. Sources, IS.
ERDF equivalent: Amount, EUR 218 054.46. Co-financing rate, 50.00%. Sources, NO.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Deliverables:

The genotypic GBS data of the oat materials
Selected OatFrontiers oat lines
Signatures of selection determined, and a manuscript submitted to scientific journal
List of most promising OatFrontiers lines
List of associated genetic markers with potential in breeding
Report on the interaction between genetics and environments on project target traits
Plan for utilization of germplasm
Handbook of standardised techniques
OatFrontiers database
Multilocational field trial data for oat diversity panels 
Farmer demonstrations 
Multilocational field trial data for oat diversity panels 
Farmer demonstrations 
Farmer demonstrations 
Farmer demonstrations 
Figures summarizing the cultivar performance
Quality variation 
Database of germplasm validated for specific traits 
Summary of validated traits
Short summary of field days on 2023
Short summary of field days on 2024
Local “madcaps”
A short report of outcomes of each workshop
A short report of outcomes of each workshop
A short report of outcomes of each workshop
Video from project theme
Presentations
Report on study trip
Project Newsletter
Project Newsletter
Project Newsletter
Project Newsletter
Project Newsletter
Project Newsletter
Presentations of activities
Project report
Video representing project results and future prospects

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

EUStrategyBalticSeaRegion OatFrontiers will contribute to the objective climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management. Resilient oat cultivars will perform better in a changing climate and reduce the risk of crop failure due to weather events
SeaBasinStrategyArcticOcean The project will contribute to the European Arctic Strategy by helping rural communities to develop in a sustainable way, diversifying the economy and aiding in infrastructure development.
EuropeanGreenDeal OatFrontiers will support the European Farm-to-Fork strategy. It will aid to ensure food security to rural communities, who will face more extreme weather due to climate change, ensure economic viability for farmers, and offer nutritious and high-quality food products to consumers. Oats is a resilient crop that thrives in less productive soils and can be used also to replace meat products in diets, thus supporting also better land-use and carbon neutrality.
Other OatFrontiers will support the Arctic strategies of the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish governments. Adapted oat cultivars will increase the grain production in these areas, offering opportunities for new industries, thereby making rural communities more resilient and self-sufficient.
Other OatFrontiers will contribute to Iceland’s Policy on Matters Concerning the Arctic Region. The project will enable economic opportunities and chances to earn a living, and support sustainable development and international scientific cooperation.

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 084 - Pilot actions developed jointly and implemented in projects, Measurement unit:
RCO 087 - Organisations cooperating across borders, Measurement unit:
RCO 010 - Enterprises cooperating with research organisations, Measurement unit:

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:
RCR 003 - Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) introducing product or process innovation, Measurement unit:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSBSR

EUSBSR Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSBSR Degree of compliance:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Northern Periphery and Arctic

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-09-24

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

65 / 65 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

310 / 310 (100%)

Notes on the data

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Contact Form

Adapting oats to final Frontier

Description

Thematic information

Partners (10)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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