Crop production – technology and methodology for sustainable cultivation

How do you produce enough food to feed a growing population in a changing world – while making agriculture sustainable from an environmental, soil health, economic and social perspective? At RISE, we work with several aspects of sustainable crop production such as cultivation technology, water management, plant protection, precision farming etc.

RISE develops and evaluates technology, methods and system solutions for functional, sustainable and profitable crop production in the field and in greenhouses. The goal is to provide solutions that have minimal or no impact on the surrounding environment and preferably counteract climate change while ensuring effective utilization of input resources and a high and stable yields with the desired end-user quality.

To achieve this, we work with

development of methodology and sensor systems to measure soil and crop properties both in fields and in greenhouses
cultivation technology in protein crops (beans and peas and ley) as well as oilseeds (rapeseed and turnip) and cereals (barley, oats and wheat)
adaptation and development of tools and autonomous vehicles for efficient weed control as well as for seedbed preparation and harvest.
combination and use of biological, mechanical and chemical control measures to develop Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
developing precision agriculture in order to customize and control site-specific inputs and soil with GPS technology and geographical information systems (GIS) to achieve the desired end-use quality and yield.
decision support for assessing the profitability of site-specific variable rate application of plant nutrition, weed control and plant protection.
technology for early detection of plant pests with drones, image analysis and spectral information as well as DNA technology in field and greenhouse
technology for optimizing the water supply (irrigation and drainage) of field crops under varying weather conditions and a changing climate
cultivation technology for improved fertility, including straw handling and biocarbon supply
And more!

In most projects, we collaborate with other research groups and competencies within and outside RISE. Our development work is often done in close collaboration with universities, consultancy, companies and farmers, and the results are often validated in field trials and in the practice by commercial growers.