A whole day chock full of knowledge
The first day of the SeniorVIP meeting held at Flakkebjerg on 2-3 November 2016 was packed with research presentations.
If you participate in AGRO’s annual SeniorVIP meetings, you have ample opportunity of becoming a good deal wiser. This year was no exception. The first day of this year’s SeniorVIP meeting held at Flakkebjerg on 2-3 November 2016 was full of research presentations. An array of interesting and instructive presentations provided an exciting insight into the subjects in which the six research sections of the department are engaged.
The subjects ranged from local to global, from ultramodern technology to hundred-year-long soil trials, and from the microscopic to the universal.
Erik Steen Kristensen began the meeting by stating that he had had no influence on which research presentations had been chosen and that he therefore was looking forward to hearing them. He was also pleased that more than half of the 16 presenters were young researchers – either PhDs or postdocs.
Even after a long day filled with 16 more or less nerdy presentations there was no doubt that the participants were pleased with the course of events and impressed by the comprehensiveness of the department’s research. Comments such as “We certainly do cover a wide field”, “What a lot of different things we work with in AGRO” and “It is interesting to hear the various presentations” attest to that.
There were about 61 participants on the first day to which also the JuniorVIP at Flakkebjerg had been invited and turned out in force.
At midday there was a presentation about dealing with the media by communications consultant Michael Strangholt from DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. Among other things he talked about researchers’ freedom and duty to speak.
Slides from the presentations can be found on the O drive under O:\ST_AGRO\Faelles\SeniorVIP 2016.
Below are ultrabrief highlights of the presentations:
Lorenzo Pugliese: Transport of nutrients was measured in three different types of mini wetlands. Each model has advantages and disadvantages.
Goswin Heckrath: Besides the fact that buffer zones can counteract leaching of nutrients to the aquatic environment, they can also slow down the transport of eroded soil to the aquatic environment. A simple calculation model looks promising.
Lars J. Munkholm: Novel sensor technology, which can measure soil quality and on this basis adjust sowing depth, will be presented as an Agromek news.
Ananda Scherner: Rat’s-tail fescue may be considered a super weed, but can be controlled if you not only resort to chemicals.
Weronika Czaban: Clover obtains amino acids from the soil even when nitrogen is present, and there is an interaction with soil microbes and flavonoids.
Khalid Mahmood: Epigenetics, which is a kind of on-off switch for genes, may be involved in the development of resistance to pesticides.
Kiril Manevski: Increased biomass in and on the fields can reduce the leaching of nitrogen and increase yields from the field.
Finn Plauborg: We are getting to know the new fields in Havris (not far from Foulum). The facilities there are good and include a climate station and a fertigation unit.
Jørgen E. Olesen: The Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research makes it possible for us to send Master’s degree students on study visits to China in addition to our research collaboration.
Michael Strangholt: Researchers are obliged to share their knowledge, but when it comes to stating personal opinions, researchers must be aware of what that might lead to.
Chris Kjeldsen: Agriculture is no longer the economic basis for Denmark or the rural districts. One possibility is to develop regional foods.
Mette Vestergaard Odgaard: Data from satellites can be used for analysing changes in land use at a global level.
Troels Kristensen: The EU has proposed various ways of presenting the environmental footprints of products so that it is easier for consumers to navigate among the range of products.
Chris Khadgi Sørensen: A special type of laser scanning microscopy can be used for making sharp 3D images of, for instance, rust infection in wheat.
Rumakanta Sapkota: The composition of the soil microflora is much influenced by the previous crop rotation. The soil type only had an influence on fungi and nematodes.
Wenfeng Cong: Inclusion of plants such as chicory, caraway and plantain in grass clover can increase biomass yield.
Bent T. Christensen: The long-term soil trials at Askov have been used to prove that input of animal manure can influence the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the soil.