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Scoping European N fluxes for sustainable N management and conservation practices

Project description

Smarter nitrogen for sustainable agriculture

Better nitrogen management can boost crop yields, cut fertiliser waste and reduce environmental damage. However, the extensive application of synthetic fertilisers and manure results in substantial nitrogen losses that filter into groundwater and cause nitrous oxide emissions that aggravate climate change. The EU-funded NitroScope project will combine sophisticated monitoring, modelling and applied mitigation solutions to reduce N emission and allow calculation and mapping of N budget across Europe. To create accurate, regional emission factors, NitroScope will use continuous nitrate sensors, remote sensing techniques and enhanced N2O measurement approaches over 125 sites across 10 European areas. With cloud-based systems and farm management software, NitroScope aims to help Europe’s agricultural sector become more effective, sustainable and climate-friendly.

Objective

Nitrogen (N) is a vital nutrient for plant growth. However, the intensive use of N fertilizers in agriculture, whereby only 30-50% of applied N is taken up by crops, has led to significant environmental challenges. Impactful losses occur through nitrate leaching to the groundwater, leading to its contamination, and through nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, a long-lasting greenhouse gas.
Acknowledging the need for a coordinated effort among the four helixes of innovation (i.e. research, society, industry and policy) to unlock the necessary efforts for monitoring N fluxes and action towards reducing N losses and increasing N use efficiency, NitroScope has two major ambitions: a) improving scientific knowledge for pedo-climatic regions getting both simple region-specific emissions factors and model-based decision support and b) bringing the knowledge to land managers so that mitigation will happen. To achieve this, NitroScope will improve N flux monitoring through 125 sites spread over at least 10 pedo-climatic regions using improved proximal sensors for high throughput continuous nitrate quantification, remote sensing, and better methodology to adequately account for the variability of in-the-field N2O emissions. The data will be gathered in a database hosted on a cloud to facilitate reporting and will be used to determine region-specific emission factors and provide model-based decision support with reduced uncertainties. Based on this, improved N management and conservation solutions will be assessed, including variable rate N fertilization and crop residue management. NitroScope will further use transdisciplinary methodology, including developing 2 farm management add-ons, to inform and engage land managers to actively contribute to monitoring and managing N fluxes in Europe while improving agricultural yield and quality. Finally, this will result in a more precise EU N budget estimation and future scenarios to support decision-making.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITEIT GENT
Net EU contribution
€ 2 366 162,50
Address
SINT PIETERSNIEUWSTRAAT 25
9000 Gent
Belgium
Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen Arr. Gent
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 2 366 162,50

Participants (22)

Partners (2)