The aim of this supporting action is to develop a toolbox of cost-effective technologies to be implemented at the farm level to protect water from nitrate pollution. The project will bring together four partners with expertise in farm level N management in their regions. The first component of the toolbox will be a catalogue of technologies for reducing N losses on the farm produced using previous research results and local experience. Technologies will be prioritized based on their cost-effectiveness and efficiency at reducing N losses. They will be listed according to region and production-system to enable easy identification of the best management option for specific local conditions.

The second toolbox component will be an enhanced decision support tool (NDICEA) which can be used at the farm level to illustrate options for improved N management, and assist farmers in reaching their goals of compliance with the Nitrates Directive. NDICEA was developed by LBI, and will be enhanced using outputs from ongoing and previous projects at partners UAa and UNEW. The toolbox will be implemented on case study farms and the results documented in a blueprint for implementing water protection policy at the farm level across the EU. Project results will be widely available via the project website, and through links with the WFD-CIRCA Information Exchange Platform and the Water Information System for Europe (WISE)-RTD webportal.

A stakeholder workshop will be conducted at the end of the project to transfer technology to key user groups (farmers, advisors, water protection policy makers). N-TOOLBOX will serve as a centralized resource that can be expanded as new measures and tools are developed. In this way N-TOOLBOX will lay the foundations for improved implementation of water protection policy at the farm level across the EU.