Objective
Hungary has become the granary of Eastern Europe based upon intensive, specialized large-scale farming. Although the use of fertilizer and pesticide inputs has been reduced during recent years, groundwater. resources remain vulnerable to contamination by nitrate and herbicides. In order to fully evaluate the environmental consequences of these intensive agricultural practices it is necessary to understand the extent to which microbiological processes can contribute to the removal of these potential pollutants in the soil and unsaturated zone.
The University of Reading, Institut de Recherches Chimiques (Belgium) and Institute of Biology and Benaki phytopathological Institute (Greece) are already involved in a project to study herbicide degradation in the unsaturated and saturated zone in Northern and Southern Europe. It is proposed that Debrecen Agricultural University should also become involved in the project in order to extend the studies to Eastern Europe and to consider herbicide degradation and also denitrification
in samples taken from the unsaturated zone.
Two sites will be selected in Hungary at which large pits will be dug in order to gain access to a profile 1.5-2.om deep. Samples of the soil and subsoil material will be taken aseptically from the vertical face of the pits and taken to the laboratory. Subsamples of material will be incubated at 120C with (a) atrazine at relatively high concentrations (to allow detection by HPLC) and (b) nitrate at 50 ppm. Samples will be incubated either aerobically or anaerobically in gas jars and the disappearance of the atrazine and nitrate measured in order to assess the potential for dissipation. Sterile controls will be included to confirm that the processes observed are microbiological. Additional experiments will investigate the effect of addition of acetate on cometabolism of atrazine, and the microbiological characterization of the samples (viable counts and direct microscopy). Fresh samples of material will be transported to the University of Reading for 14C-atrazine degradation studies to measure mineralization, and for 15N-nitrate studies of denitrification.
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Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
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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.
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Funding Scheme
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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.
Coordinator
RG6 6AH READING / SILCHESTER
United Kingdom
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.