How to improve nutrient management in agriculture?

Nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are essential for plant growth and development, which makes them key elements for agriculture. However, intensive use of soil-degrading machinery and over-application of fertilisers can cause nutrient overloading in the soil, leading to adverse effects on human health, biodiversity, water and air quality.

This Tuesday and Wednesday a meeting of the NutriBudget project has taken place in Vic. A Horizon Europe project in which participates the CT BETA of the UVic – UCC that aims to develop a nutrient management platform called NutriPlatform. This platform will record all the data obtained from different agronomic mitigation measures, with the aim of improving nutrient management in agriculture. Apart from reducing pollution without compromising food production. This platform will allow to choose the most appropriate methodology according to the territory and climate zone in Europe. It will function as a support tool to determine which agronomic or policy measures to implement.

The project is implemented in 5 pilot regions (Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Belgium) distributed in 4 different climate zones of the EU. The Spanish pilot is in the Mediterranean climate zone, Switzerland and Italy in the continental climate zone, Belgium in the Atlantic climate zone, and Finland in the boreal climate zone. Each region will test and implement different agronomic strategies with the aim of mitigating nutrient losses in the soil and optimising their application in agriculture.

Mitigation measures

19 mitigation measures are under development; 5 of them have started to be tested in the Mediterranean.

Precision agriculture.

Precision agriculture aims to optimise fertiliser use according to the state of the soil and the development of the crop. In this study, conventional fertilisation will be compared with precision fertilisation, based on nutritional mapping of the soil using satellite images and sensors, to adjust the amount of fertiliser in each area. Soil nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and crop yield will be assessed. Precision agriculture hopes to match or exceed the performance of conventional fertilisation by optimising fertiliser use and reducing pollution from nitrate leaching into water.

Use of zeolites to reduce ammonia emissions in soil.

Zeolites are minerals that can hydrate and dehydrate in a reversible manner. These minerals are mixed into the soil and can increase nutrient retention. This study will conduct laboratory trials to evaluate the ability of zeolites to minimise nutrient losses by applying them to the soil in combination with a conventional fertiliser at different rates.

Use of tailor-made fertilisers. 

Tailor-made fertilisers (TMF) are formulated by combining different products with the aim of adequately meeting the needs of the crop, considering the nutritional status of the soil. In this way, the aim is to optimise the application of nutrients in agricultural soils and to reduce losses through emissions or leaching.

In this study, an agronomic field trial is carried out to compare the performance of a TMF versus a conventional mineral fertiliser and to evaluate its competitiveness in economic and environmental terms.

Use of perennial cereal species such as kernza.

Kernza is a deep-rooted perennial cereal capable of increasing carbon sequestration in the soil, making better use of nutrients and water, and being more resistant to drought. This offers several advantages compared to annual cereals such as wheat and barley. Moreover, being perennial, a kernza field does not require tilling the soil, which helps to reduce soil erosion. In this project, the agronomic suitability of Kernza compared to annual species in terms of soil nutritional status and crop yield is studied. On the other hand, although it is a cereal suitable for animal consumption, its viability for human consumption is still under study.

Use of the aquatic plant Lemna.

Lemna is a floating aquatic plant with the potential to be used to purify wastewater. In this project, it is investigated whether the nutrients that this plant absorbs from such waters can be useful and efficient for use as fertilisers in crops, in a more sustainable way than conventional fertilisers. Thus, in this project, the agronomic performance of Lemna applied as a green manure to the soil is evaluated in comparison to a mineral product. It is expected that its use will improve the use of nutrients in the soil and optimise the use of residues.

Projects such as NutriBudget promote innovative solutions that optimise the use of nutrients, reduce pollution and allow a more balanced and sustainable agricultural production, adapted to the climatic conditions of each region. This objective is aligned with the European Commission’s Green Deal, which aims to reduce nutrient losses by 50% and fertiliser use by 20% by 2030.