Piloting and testing environment for the development of water management strategy and technologies - VEkSI (investment)

In this project, a new demonstration and testing field with three blocks with different drainage arrangements will be established at the Ruukki experimental station governed by Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). One block has normal sub-surface drainage, another has controlled drainage and the third one has controlled sub-irrigation. The demo field is located next to Siikajoki river, which enables water pumping and water storaging next to the field if needed. A fully automated sub-irrigation system will also be designed and installed on the field, but the field will be made very flexible, so that the purpose of the field, i.e. demonstrations and piloting with different goals, can be flexibly achieved. The field also enables piloting and testing, which does not have to be related to water management at all, but where, for example, smart farming-type engineering testing with agricultural machinery can be conducted.

At Luke Ruukki's experimental station there is a NorPeat research platform, where water management can be done with a controlled sub-irrigation system connected to a water storage reservoir. However, small-scale or short-term experiments and testing cannot be easily carried out on the field in question without disturbing the field's long-term greenhouse gas and leaching measurements. In terms of demonstrations and piloting, there has been a lack of a development environment in Northern Finland, where various tests and experiments can be done more freely, for a shorter duration and without disrupting the measurements of research projects. Equally, there is a need for a development environment, so that different actors do not always have to disturbed, for example, private farmers, who do not necessarily have the opportunity to offer

their fields for piloting as this would interfere their own farming operations. In the province of North Ostrobothnia, there are many educational institutions and advisory organizations that would benefit from a field where they can teach and demonstrate, for example, water management techniques, the supplying of irrigation water, effects on the environment, explore different data collection technologies and test different energy management solutions. These two fields will complement each other.

The project thus significantly promotes business-oriented research, development and innovation activities and new technologies of the province and companies. This increases the region's vitality, increases know how and thus supports the development of agriculture and business life, utilizing the possibilities of digitalization and supporting the principles of sustainable development. As climate change progresses, the value of water will become even more important, which requires proactive action with new technologies and development work.

Natural Resources Institute Finland is coordinating the project and University of Oulu is the project partner.