SURPLUS Intensify production, transform biomass to energy and novel goods and protect soils in Europe

Project aims are related to intensifying production of degraded soils and to recuperate contaminated soils for production of food an biomass. Experiments with soil amendments have been established in Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Norway show good potential for sustainable intensification of degraded and contaminated soils. In the Norwegian test field, two soil types are compared, one of very poor quality (glacial gravel), low in organic matter, and the other is of high quality (also glacial) with a high content of organic materials. Field experiments were supplemented with pot experiments in green houses, both in Spain, Germany, Poland and in Norway, in order to study in details how soil organic matter affects soil quality and plant growth. Soil amendments include biochar, manure and biorest after production of biogas. Dissemination from INTENSE in 2018, include a Summer school for Master and PhD students in Europe. In Norway a seminar was held on methodology to study soil life, including microorganisms and meso-life. The seminar was in cooperation between NIBIO Særheim (research) and NLR Rogaland (extension). The project partners gave introductions to this field, which is developing strongly. Participants in the seminar were farmers and extension officers in Norway, and the classes were with internet coverage. INTENSE has published several scientific papers as well as popular articles. The well renomated journal «Frontiers in Agriculture», published a series of papers on the INTENSE topic, with three of the INTENSE partners as guest editors. Several publications from the project is still under development, among them two which with authorship from NIBIO project engaged scientists. This imply that publishing from the project will not be finished until the end of 2020. Web pages are established at: http://www.nibio.no/prosjekter/intense, with information on the project, newsletters and with links to the respective European partners.

Politikk: Grunnleggende prosesser viktige for matproduksjon i Europa. Plante-jord-mikrobe -samspill er ikke er mye undersøkt i så bred kontekst som her. 2. Regionalt: Nyttig for planleggere i arbeidet med å ta i bruk marginal og lett forurenset jord. Verktøy bidrar til økt og bærekraftig produksjon, tilpasset lokale forhold. 3. Gårdsnivå: Verktøy for bøndene i omlegge produksjon og areal til bærekraftige systemer, samt sikre god jordkvalitet. Flere teknikker og skjøtselsmetoder for større produksjon og økt kvalitet. 4. Innbyggerne: "Folk" er opptatt av matkvalitet og bærekraftige metoder. Verktøya som INTENSE utvikler; praktiske og åpent tilgjengelige for alle. Oppnådde resultater oppfyller måla for effekter. Vi har vært i kontakt med et stort antall brukere i løpet av prosjektet; bønder, firma, lokale, nasjonale og internasjonale politikere. Prosjektet viktig for videreføring av tema i nytt prosjekt (MAFIGOLD), med samarbeid med flere av aktørene i INTENSE, bl. a to partnere.

INTENSE will respond to "Great Challenges? for the 21st century, which are global food security, use of renewable raw materials and production of energy from biomass. INTENSE will contribute to sustainable increase in food production, novel products for agriculture and new perspectives for European rural landscapes. Efficient production and utilization of biomass for improved economic, environmental and social outcomes are important. At least 30 % of the agricultural soils in Europe need to be transformed to a state of higher quality. Accordingly, INTENSE will contribute to reconverting poor, abandoned and polluted sites including grassland, set aside land, brownfields, and marginal lands into sustainable agricultural production. Systems-based tools will be constructed for the development and implementation of integrated food and non-food production in these areas. These tools open a wide range of novel products and services across farming communities in Europe. INTENSE project responds to central questions of FACCE-JPI Core theme 3: Sustainable intensification of integrated food and non-food systems of agriculture. Recovery of soils from pollution, drought or other reasons for low productivity requires research on identification of crucial soil components and processes identification and assessment of plant species producing high biomass on marginal/contaminated soil, the optimum composition for composting and biogas production and degradation and absorption of pollutants. INTENSE will combine cropping and soil amendment experiments, precision agricultural and crop modelling tools, experimental biomass conversion to energy, assessment of greenhouse gas and nutrient emission and other environmental indicators, as well as socioeconomic models. Stakeholders will be integrated in the project. The holistic approach will enable identification of common traits and enable development and dissemination of production chains for sustainable intensification adapted to Europe.