Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2020
Abstract
Farmers in Northern Norway frequently experience winter damaged fields caused by ice encasement. The economic consequences are severe due to loss of fodder and costs with reestablishment of swards. It is therefore important to choose the best available varieties for the local climatic and environmental conditions. We tested eight Norwegian cultivars of timothy (Phleum pratense), for tolerance to ice encasement and their regrowth capacity. Both old and new cultivars, and cultivars with good overwintering capacity and less biomass production were tested against more productive cultivars with less overwintering capacity. The experiment was a semi-field setup and plants were established in pots which were placed outside. Half of the pots were covered with ice and half were kept under snow cover. During four months, pots were brought, once per month, into a greenhouse for thawing and measurement of biomass production under normal growth conditions. The results indicate that the old winter hardy cultivar ‘Engmo’ is least affected by ice encasement but produces little biomass. The joint Nordic cultivar ‘Snorri’ produced most biomass of all the cultivars after a treatment with ice cover. In conclusion, there is a large difference between cultivars in ice encasement tolerance, and ice cover affected regrowth capacity far more than snow cover
Authors
Hilde Halland Peter Martin Sigridur Dalmannsdottir Sæmundur Sveinsson Rólvur Djurhuus Mette Thomsen John Wishart Ólafur ReykdalAbstract
Transnational cooperation is a common strategy for addressing research and development (R&D) issues resulting from similar challenges that cut across administrative borders. Value chains for food and drinks are complex, and transdisciplinary work is recognised as a method for solving complex issues. The Northern Cereals project ran from 2015 to 2018, and its goal was to increase cereal production and the value of grain products in four regions in the Northern Periphery programme area. The project included both R&D, but the main emphasis was on development, and was carried out by transdisciplinary cooperation between R&D partners and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By reviewing the project’s methods, outcomes and composition, we discuss if a framework of transnational and transdisciplinary cooperation can help to develop the value chain from local barley to beer. We found that transnational cooperation was achieved successfully, that stakeholder involvement was crucial, but that academic disciplines such as marketing and innovation could have been included. In addition, we recognised that much work remains to further increase cereal production and the use of local grain in the Northern Periphery region, but believe that this project has laid a good foundation for further progress.
Abstract
Nibio Ullensvang har i perioden 2010-2016 gjennomført rettleiingsprøving av samla 14 sortar og seleksjonar av søtkirsebær frå foredlingsprogrammet ved forskingsstasjonen Summerland i Canada. Føremålet var å skaffa norske fruktdyrkarar sortar som gjev stor avling med kvalitetsfrukt og er tilpassa det norske klimaet. Sortane vart poda på den svaktveksande grunnstamma Gisela 5 og vart planta i ein plasttunnel. Pomologiske karakterar og fruktkvalitet vart vurderte og detaljert informasjon om dei ulike sortane er gjeve i denne rapporten. Sorten Starblush og seleksjonen SPC 108 er tilrådd for dyrking under norske tilhøve i tillegg til hovudsorten Lapins. Seleksjonen SPC 107 høver godt i småhagar.
Abstract
Organic amendments can improve grassland productivity. Timothy and tall fescue were sown on a sandy loam and a coarse sand at Særheim, Norway, in September 2016 and on a loamy sand at Skierniewice, Poland, in April 2017, and cut and fertilised according to normal practices for the two regions from 2017 to 2019. At both sites, 0.75 kg DM m-2 of either digested or undigested manure (the latter with or without 2.9 kg biochar m-2) were incorporated prior to sowing. On the coarse sand at Særheim, total seasonal tall fescue yield in 2018 was 46–60% higher in the organic amendment treatments, and total seasonal timothy yield in the digestate treatment was 97% higher, than in the control treatment for the same species with only mineral fertiliser. On the sandy loam at Særheim and the loamy sand at Skierniewice, none of the amendments resulted in significant yield increments. These results indicate a clear effect on soil type on grassland biomass response to organic amendments.
Abstract
The open landscapes produced over centuries by small-scale farming in Norwegian coastal and fjord areas are threatened by agricultural abandonment, raising public concern for maintenance of the species-rich and valuable coastal grasslands. Semi-natural grasslands, traditionally grazed in the spring and fall and mown in summer, are most affected. Two linear programming models, one for small-scale sheep and one for small-scale mixed dairy and meat farms, both described in a separate method article, were developed. In the models is studied effects on production, grazing and land utilization, of altering government financial support among leys on arable land, enclosed farm pasture, grazing animals, and altering the (regulated) prices farmers pay for concentrate feed at the farm level. Sheep grazing can be expanded by intensification through increased fertilization and purchase of concentrate feed. Raising steers instead of bulls on dairy and beef farms with a milk quota would result in more mixed grazing by both sheep and steers, which is advantageous for the landscape. Steers are currently quite rare in Norway and their numbers can be increased with more subsidies for grazing, (Grazing Support (GS)) or by increasing the Regional Environmental Support (RES), a policy instrument targeting local projects for more grazing in specific areas. The current Agriculture and Cultural Landscape (ACL) subsidy payment places a higher value on arable land compared to the more biodiverse farm pastures, resulting in weaker incentives for keeping farm pasture in production. Raising the rate for farm pasture relative to that of arable land in the ACL scheme would result in stronger incentives for keeping such farm pasture in production, and likely increase biodiversity and landscape values. Increased GS for sheep might lead to more purchase of concentrate to keep more animals through the winter and eventually needs to be counteracted with higher prices for concentrated feedstuffs.
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Recycling of waste fractions from farms and greenhouses might reduce environmental pollution. However, recycling of nutrient solution in greenhouse is risky due to danger of disease spread. Nitrification bacteria can be used for aerobic conversion of ammonia to nitrate in organic waste and may function as stable microbial community protecting against pathogen attacks by enhancing induced systemic resistance of plants. We developed a hydroponic cultivation system “Organoponics” allowing growth of tomato plant on organic fertilizer with recirculation of nutrient solution. Liquid by-product of biogas production has been used as organic fertilizer. A moving-bed bioreactor was integrated in the system for aerobic nitrification of ammonia. Influence of fertilizer composition (organic, mineral matching organic, standard mineral) and addition of plant growth promoting bacteria on biomass distribution, tomato fruit quality were investigated. Plants grown on organic fertilizer were more generative with largest root index. They also produced fruits with significantly larger average size along whole cluster. Addition of the bacteria to root rhizosphere improved yield and quality parameters of plants received organic fertilization and negatively affected the same parameters in plants received mineral fertilization.
Abstract
We investigated the effect of supplemental LED inter-lighting (80% red, 20% blue; 70 W m−2; light period 04:00–22:00) on the productivity and physiological traits of tomato plants (Flavance F1) grown in an industrial greenhouse with high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps (235 W m−2, 420 µmol m−2 s−1 at canopy). Physiological trait measurements included diurnal photosynthesis and fruit relative growth rates, fruit weight at specific positions in the truss, root pressure, xylem sap hormone and ion compositions, and fruit quality. In the control treatment with HPS lamps alone, the ratio of far-red to red light (FR:R) was 1.2 at the top of the canopy and increased to 5.4 at the bottom. The supplemental LED inter-lighting decreased the FR:R ratio at the middle and low positions in the canopy and was associated with greener leaves and higher photosynthetic light use efficiency (PLUE) in the leaves in the lower canopy. The use of LED inter-lighting increased the biomass and yield by increasing the fruit weight and enhancing plant growth. The PLUE of plants receiving supplemental LED light decreased at the end of the light period, indicating that photosynthesis of the supplemented plants at the end of the day might be limited by sink capacity. The supplemental LED lighting increased the size of fruits in the middle and distal positions of the truss, resulting in a more even size for each fruit in the truss. Diurnal analysis of fruit growth showed that fruits grew more quickly during the night on the plants receiving LED light than on unsupplemented control plants. This faster fruit growth during the night was related to an increased root pressure. The LED treatment also increased the xylem levels of the phytohormone jasmonate. Supplemental LED inter-lighting increased tomato fruit weight without affecting the total soluble solid contents in fruits by increasing the total assimilates available for fruit growth and by enhancing root activity through an increase in root pressure and water supply to support fruit growth during the night.