During her studies, Julie Therese Christensen researched several aspects of soil phosphorus dynamics. One of the core-ideas were to use cover crops to increase phosphorus availability for the main crop. More specifically, Julie Therese Christensen studied the cover crops lupine, oat and corncockle, and found that especially lupine and corncockle were efficient in mobilising phosphorus from the soil, which potentially could become available for the main crop. Corncockle had a remarkable high concentration of phosphorus in the plant tissue, indicating a potential high value as a green manure.
The new research findings contribute to the understanding of how to increase soil phosphorus availability and ultimately decrease inputs of mineral phosphorus fertilisers without comprising yield.