Project description
Innovative mobile nutrient sensor for fertiliser requirements
Currently, fertilisers are applied to crops based on estimations and recommendations rather than actual analysis of soil and plant needs. This often leads to over-fertilisation, reducing crop yields and causing unnecessary expenses and groundwater pollution. To address this, Pessl Instruments GmbH has developed MobiLab, a lab-on-a-chip sensor that can quickly determine the concentrations of key plant nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate and potassium) in the soil. The technology allows farmers to accurately determine their fields’ fertiliser requirements within minutes. The EU-funded MobiLab project aims to further develop the technology and create a commercialisation strategy for the mobile sensor.
Objective
Today the application of fertilisers to agricultural crops is mainly based on calculations, estimations and recommendations and not on analyses of the actual demand of soil and plants. The resulting over-fertilisation has substantial disadvantages: Farmers suffer from reduced yields and unnecessary expenses for fertilisers, groundwater is polluted, surface water bodies are eutrophicated, greenhouse gas is emitted from soils and finite natural fertiliser resources are depleted. It is estimated that up to 35 % of the applied fertiliser could be saved if a method for the quick and simple determination of the fertiliser demand existed.
Pessl GmbH, an Austrian SME specialised in the development of innovative products in the field of agricultural monitoring and precision farming, has developed MobiLab, a lab-on-a-chip sensor for the quick on-site determination of the concentrations of the most important plant nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate and potassium) in the soil, based on the outcomes of the award-winning EU project OPTIFERT. MobiLab will enable farmers to determine the fertiliser requirements of their fields within just a few minutes and without the need for any special knowledge. The proper functioning and the great potentials of the technology have been proven, but further technological developments as well as the finalisation of a commercialisation concept are necessary to achieve the market breakthrough. Based on the outcomes of phase 1 of the project, all necessary steps for a successful market introduction of the MobiLab system will be taken.
The MobiLab nutrient sensor will help European farmers to save up to 35 % of their applied fertiliser, leading to total potential annual savings of up to 6 billion € on the EU level. At the same time, Pessl Instruments GmbH will be able to significantly grow in terms of turnover, profit and employees and to further expand its leading position on the world market for precision farming products.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture sustainable agriculture
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkali metals
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies microtechnology lab on a chip
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- social sciences economics and business business and management employment
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3.2.4. - Sustainable and competitive bio-based industries and supporting the development of a European bioeconomy
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H2020-EU.3.2.1. - Sustainable agriculture and forestry
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H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
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H2020-EU.3.2.2. - Sustainable and competitive agri-food sector for a safe and healthy diet
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
8160 Weiz
Austria
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.