The goal and vision for “SMARTGrass” is to optimize the N use in grass swards for both seed and silage production. In order to obtain this goal two overall issues will be addressed in the project: (i) development of sensor technology to recognize spatial patterns of crop growth in the field, and (ii) improving the understanding of optimized N application both in pure grass for seed and in grass-clover mixtures for silage in relation to both enhanced yield and reduced environmental impact. In order to implement the project results in real-life farming practices the project will (a) develop a spreader for precision application of mineral N fertilizers, (b) develop a grass-clover module for the MarkOnline decision support system aiding farmers in planning the application of both slurry and mineral N fertilizers, and (c) document the nitrate leaching effect of the applied N fertilizers strategies at the clover-grass sward in order to used temporary grasslands as an instrument in Danish nitrogen regulation.
Jørgen Eriksen
Department of Agroecology,
Aarhus University
Phone: +45 8715 7672 / +45 5168 0554
E-mail: Jorgen.Eriksen@agro.au.dk