Szervezeti egység: Department of Soil Physics and Water Management

Natural/Small Water Retention Measures (NSWRMs) can help mitigate the conflicts between agricultural water uses (e.g. plant production, animals) and other human and environmental demands for water, including drinking water or maintaining environmental flow. This is crucial since these conflicts will probably be exacerbated by an increasing number of extreme events such as droughts and heavy rainfall. More careful management of head watersheds will significantly contribute to more resilient agriculture and society. Moreover, NSWRMs are contributing simultaneously to the achievement of different Sustainable Development Goals and environmental targets formulated in several water- and agriculture-related European Union policies. Despite a comprehensive set of techniques available to increase water retention on both catchments and farm levels, knowledge is still lacking on the effectiveness of different scale- and region-specific measures across different soil-climatic regions and agricultural systems, especially under changing climate conditions.
OPTAIN aims to (i) identify effective techniques for retention and reuse of water and nutrients in small agricultural catchments across the Continental, Pannonian and Boreal biogeographical regions of Europe, taking into account potential synergies with existing drainage-irrigation systems, and – in close cooperation with local actors – (ii) select NSWRMs at farm and catchment level and optimize their spatial allocation and combination based on environmental and economic sustainability indicators.

More informations: optain.hu

Due to the technical problems in studying living roots in the soil, much less information is available about roots compared to shoots. Therefore, dielectric measurements, which do not require root damage (digging, washing), are very important. Electrical capacitance measured between a ground and a plant electrode (inserted into the soil and attached to the stem base, respectively) is proportional to the size and functional activity of the root system. The root development of various crop species during the plant growth cycle can be monitored by repeated capacitance measurements. This project aims to test the sensitivity of the method for tracking the response of root to various stresses. The dielectric parameters are detected in potted maize, cucumber and pea plants cultivated in a growth chamber. Our purpose is to provide a novel technique, which can promote the various fields of plant investigation by completing the laborious and expensive common root monitoring methods. As vigorous root system often related to enhanced grain yield in crops, the presented innovative approach is expected to be beneficial in breeding programs.