The big picture: using wildflower strips for pest control
They may be beautiful, but these strips prove pretty deadly for every farmer's mortal enemy: aphids
Project Summary
Start date:
1 December 2022
Duration:
4 years
Project Leader:
The Trans4num project will study nutrient management techniques like bio-based fertilisers, sustainable crop rotations and optimisation of nutrient flows to support decision-making for optimum nutrient supply
Detail
Green (i.e. nature-based) solutions in agriculture can help with climate change adaptation and disaster-risk reduction. Solutions include restoration, improved land management, carbon storage and conservation. In this context, the EU-funded trans4num project will study nutrient management techniques like bio-based fertilisers, sustainable crop rotations and optimisation of nutrient flows. To ensure that the findings are used to support decision-making for optimum nutrient supply, the project will develop and implement a social-ecological transformation approach. With multiple stakeholder participation at the farm, landscape and food system level interacting with 20 nature-based solutions in seven regions with intensive farming systems, we will investigate which forms of stakeholder engagement maximise uptake of these solutions. The overall aim is to bring together experience, expertise and knowledge across different fields, technologies and disciplines from 22 partners in Europe and China.
Project Leader
Dr Martin Blackwell
Soil Scientist
Prof. Simon Willcock
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST
Project Coordinators
Kirsty Tooke
Business Specialist/Advisor. Executive Assistant, Net Zero and Resilient Farming
Team Members
Prof. Jonathan Storkey
Plant Ecologist
Dr Ian Shield
Agronomist
Dr Robert Dunn
ECOLOGIST
Melanie Wright
Knowledge Exchange Manager
Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman
RESEARCH SCIENTIST - SOCIAL SCIENCE
Dr Steven Emery
SOCIAL SCIENTIST