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BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram

ERA Joint Call 2021 Circularity: Balancing production and environment (PROENV)

Alternative title: Arealbruk for en bærekraftig balanse mellom matproduksjon og miljø

Awarded: NOK 5.4 mill.

The PROENV project (balancing PROduction and ENVironment) is exploring the impact of land spare and land share approaches to balance the impact of food-production while preserving ecosystem services. PROENV has partners from Denmark (DK)(Lead), Spain (ES), Italy (IT), and Norway (NO). In addition to scientific articles in peer reviewed journals, results will be presented in popular articles and public webinar as well as in home pages etc. PROENV is gathering stakeholders (farmer’s organisations and environmental regulators) internationally and locally for digital dialogue meetings to uncover practical and legal barriers to improved resource utilization in the four countries. This work is facilitated by the Norwegian partner (NORSØK). Common barriers detected are financial deficiency and shortage of time. PROENV adapts existing software developed in Italy for improved data-modelling of manure N utilization at field, farm and regional scales and reduce nitrogen losses from manure. By using this distribution model, a better understanding of how manure can be distributed between farmers can be achieved and subsequently optimized. This has a positive effect on the farmers with a surplus of manure which can redistribute manure to farmers with a deficit of manure. It is tested in a case study in Denmark, in Po region in Italy and in the Catalonia region in Spain. It is still in the development face and not implemented by the agricultural authority. The Norwegian partners are working on Farm-scale measures, exploring the role of intensification on GHG emissions, energy consumption, nutrient balance, biodiversity and economy. Intensification is defined as increased purchase of nutrients and energy on a farm-level. We use modelling at the farm scale level and have a PhD student who contributes with system analysis in dairy farming to reveal the impact of farm characteristics, purchased inputs, and conventional or organic production mode on gross margin, GHG emissions, nitrogen cost, energy use, and agricultural land use occupation, based on data from 200 Norwegian (NO) dairy farms. The aims are: a) assessing how dairy farm production can be improved concerning environmental impact (GHG emission, nitrogen [N] intensity, energy [E] intensity, land use occupation) and gross margin, b) comparing organically and conventionally managed farms in terms of GHG emission, N intensity, land use occupation, and gross margin, and c) contributing to improving the methodology for assessing environmental performance. The main conclusions are: a) Environmental impact are most effectively reduced by increased dairy cow proportion in the cattle herd while reducing imported N fertilisers. When milk quota is filled and agricultural area allows to produce more feed then needed for dairy cows, producing more meat can increase gross margin while decreasing dairy cow proportion; b) Organic dairy farms were associated with lower GHG emissions and higher gross margins and lower N-use per produced unit, but occupied more land; c)Propensity matching can be be used to compare estimate of environmental impacts using similar farms. The more complex machine learning models had limited advantages over simpler models such as multiple linear and Lasso regressions. The need to address other system values at farm level to give a broader understanding of the impact of production than functional units based solely on production is discussed. We are working on a paper on dairy farm data from ES, IT, DK, and NO with dairy farm structures that vary significantly from Norway and from each other. We will identify if the same management factors are influencing the environmental indicators in the four regions, and will also include rough estimates for biodiversity. There is an ongoing cooperation between IRTA in Spain and NIBIO in Norway on feeding strategies to reduce CH4 emissions and maintain the production in beef production. The focus is on the impact of increased use of sunflower oil in the feed ration and different substrates from corn-production. Because of very dry weather in the region of Catalonia there will be no focus on grazing as initial planned. NIBIO contributes with LCA analyses where impact on emissions from production of the feed ingredients and from manure are included. To do this the FARMnor model, developed in an earlier project (NRC no. 199487), was adapted to reflect the conditions in ES. First results show that feeding concentrates results in high beef growth rates with low emissions of climate gases from meat produced. The field trials in PROENV are related to manure management: “Strategies related to manure management to reduce GHG emissions” (ES & IT) has three different manure applications. “Strategies related to crop rotation management to reduce annual GHG emissions” (IT, ES & DK) is implementing two types of N-fertilizer (organic vs. chemical) in connection with different cover crops - either as mixtures or pure stands.

The PROENV project (balancing PROduction and ENVironment) will explore the impact of the land spare and land share approaches to balance production and ecosystem services. In a land spare approach, the landscape is partitioned into areas with highly productive agriculture and areas with extensive or no agriculture that provide other ecosystem services. In the land share approach the farming intensity is limited in the whole area. This results in a less partitioned landscape, where the shared land provides all ecosystem services including agriculture. This will provide a framework to decide if the balance between production and other ecosystem services is best achieved using a land spare, land share or a mixed approach for a particular region. We will investigate measures to reduce nitrogen losses from manure and contribute to the adaptation of existing software to enable modelling of manure N utilization at field, farm and regional scales. The tool was developed for use in a specific geographic region. In PROENV, its technical and modelling capacities will be extended for use in other regions of Europe. PROENV will gather stakeholders (farmer’s organisations and environmental regulators) internationally and locally for dialogue meetings to uncover practical and legal barriers to optimized resource utilization. The results will be presented in public webinars. In addition to scientific articles in peer reviewed journals, results will be presented in short, targeted videos and popular articles at PROENV’s webpage and on partners' social media channels. The Norwegian partners will mainly work on Farm-scale measures. The role of intensification on GHG emissions, energy consumption, nutrient balance, biodiversity and economy will be explored. Intensification is defined as increased purchase of nutrients and energy on a farm-level. A PhD study in systems analysis (LCA and other modelling tools) will be central. The Norwegian partner will lead the dissemination.

Funding scheme:

BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram

Thematic Areas and Topics

LavutslippMatGlobal matsikkerhetKutt i utslipp av klimagasserLTP3 Fagmiljøer og talenterLTP3 Samfunnssikkerhet og beredskapPolitikk- og forvaltningsområderSkog, landbruk og matPolitikk- og forvaltningsområderMiljø, klima og naturforvaltningLTP3 Miljøvennlig energi og lavutslippsløsningerBioøkonomiØvrig bioøkonomiPortefølje Banebrytende forskningBioøkonomiLTP3 Samfunnsikkerhet, sårbarhet og konfliktCo-Funded/ERA-NETFNs BærekraftsmålBransjer og næringerLandbrukMatFNs BærekraftsmålMål 15 Liv på landInternasjonaliseringInternasjonalt samarbeid om utlysningInternasjonaliseringInternasjonalt prosjektsamarbeidMatMat - Grønn sektorLTP3 Bioøkonomi og forvaltningJoint Programming Initiative (JPI) (ny fra 2014)LTP3 Rettede internasjonaliseringstiltakPortefølje Energi og transportNaturmangfold og miljøTerrestrisk naturmangfold, økosystemer og økosystemtjenesterJoint Programming Initiative (JPI) (ny fra 2014)JPI FACCELTP3 Styrket konkurransekraft og innovasjonsevneAnvendt forskningPolitikk- og forvaltningsområderKlimarelevant forskningGrunnforskningPortefølje Mat og bioressurserLandbrukBransjer og næringerLandbrukSamfunns- og markedsperspektiver landbrukCo-Funded/ERA-NETERA-NET Cofund H2020LTP3 Høy kvalitet og tilgjengelighetInternasjonaliseringLTP3 Klima, polar og miljøLTP3 Et kunnskapsintensivt næringsliv i hele landetPortefølje InnovasjonLTP3 Klima, miljø og energiNaturmangfoldNaturmangfold og miljøPortefølje ForskningssystemetPortefølje Klima og miljø