DEMETER
Building an Interoperable, Data-Driven, Innovative and Sustainable European Agri-Food Sector
Towards a sustainable, data-driven and interoperable future for European agriculture.
About the Project
DEMETER is a flagship Horizon 2020 initiative focused on transforming the European agri-food sector through interoperable, data-driven smart farming solutions.
With deployments across 18 countries (15 of them EU Member States), DEMETER integrates IoT technologies, advanced data analytics, and interoperable models to support more sustainable, efficient, and resilient agricultural production.
The project leverages:
- IoT sensors and devices (38,000+ deployed)
- Integrated data from diverse sources (open data, satellite, legacy systems, geographical systems)
- A farmer-centric approach across the entire agri-food value chain
- Interoperability standards shaping the Agricultural Information Model
Through these pillars, DEMETER enhances resource management, supports data-driven decision-making, and contributes to the EU’s broader goals of sustainable agriculture, food security, and environmental protection.
Objectives
DEMETER aims to:
- Deploy interoperable smart farming platforms across 20 pilots and 25 sites.
- Involve and support 6,000 farmers, covering varied production sectors (dairy, meat, vegetables, fruit, arable crops).
- Demonstrate real-world interoperability between IoT technologies and data-driven services.
- Integrate multiple data sources (IoT, open data, satellite imagery, legacy systems) into a unified Agricultural Information Model.
- Ensure security, privacy, and confidentiality across the full agri-food value chain.
- Enable “doing more with less” through optimisation, sustainable practices, and decision-support tools.
- Foster an open, sustainable IoT ecosystem that promotes innovation and new business opportunities in European agriculture.
Project Information
| Organization | European Commission |
| Program | Horizon 2020 |
| Grant ID | 857202 |
| Financing | European Union |
| Start date | 2019-09-01 |
| End date | 2023-08-31 |
| PI at UPM | José-Fernán Martínez-Ortega |
| DOI | |
| Links |
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Contribution
UPM participated in DEMETER through the GRyS Research Group, supporting the development of the technical foundations enabling smart, secure, and interoperable agricultural systems. Core contributions included:
- IoT architectures and semantic interoperability, supporting standardisation within the Agricultural Information Model.
- Data analytics and decision-support methodologies for sustainable resource management.
- Integration of heterogeneous data streams, including legacy systems and sensor networks.
- Testing and validation within selected pilots, ensuring robustness and user-centred design.
- Dissemination and knowledge transfer, supporting best practices and community adoption across the EU.
Funding
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 857202.
