Better use of nutrient resources in arable land - Phosphorus venture

Within Phosphorus venture-project we test and develop biologic methods which make accumulated nutrient reserves in arable soil better available for crops. The project aims to reduce economic dependence on mineral fertilizers and to reduce environmental load on water bodies. The methods are targeted to impact cultivation of annual crops such as potato and oats, which leave little harvest residues in the field. The project develops companion planting and microbial inoculation. The chosen companion plant species have root exudates and associated bacteria and fungi which mine phosphorus from soil particles and fix nitrogen from the air. In terms of phosphorus, there is a need for a similar application to what nitrogen-fixing bacterial inoculates already are, and farmers are being guided to enrich beneficial mycorrhizal fungi and phosphorus-mining bacteria themselves for crop production on their farms. The project has been planned together with business representatives and researchers of Luke and Petla institutes. During the project, development of methods is carried out on the farms of the cooperating parties with the strategy of action research, which aims to change farming methods with new techniques. Based on the research results, farmers are trained on how to activate nutrient mining bacteria and fungi in the arable soil by cultivating the right plant combinations or covering the seeds with plant-growth-promoting microbes.