Agriculture

In the BEDREVANN project, we will study the impact of cyanotoxin-contaminated irrigation water in agriculture and the risk to food producers and end users with Akersvannet in Vestfold as a pilot area. Akersvannet is a highly nutrient-rich lake with annual blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria. Water from the lake is used to irrigate surrounding agricultural areas where vegetables are largely grown, and this can pose a risk to safe food production.

IMPASSE has studied the impacts of microplastics in agroSystems and stream environment. The project is now finished. 

Together with NIBIO, we carry out operational monitoring of rivers and lakes in the Morsa water area (Vansjø-Hobølvassdraget).

Optimal strategies to retain and re-use water and nutrients in small agricultural catchments across different soil-climatic regions in Europe.

PAPILLONS' overall aim is to shed light on the sustainability of plastic use in European agriculture in terms of emissions of micro- and nanoplastics, leakage of their chemical additives, and the impact of this on the soil. Through novel applications of the latest in analytical chemistry, materials science, computer modelling and nanofabrication technologies, we elucidate the sources, behavior and impacts of particles at micro- and nanoscale.

PROLAND addresses the sources of plastic pollution in agricultural soils. In the project, four important sources that may add plastic pollution to farm soils will be investigated: sewage sludge, compost and biogas digestate, the use of agricultural plastics, and atmospheric deposition. Concentrations of plastic, the types of plastic polymers, and plastic-associated chemicals will be quantified in agricultural soils from different areas of Norway. Assessments of what risks the microplastics, plastic additives, and pesticides may pose to soil ecosystems will be considered. Various exposure and mobility studies will be carried out in the laboratory.

Increasing water scarcity is one of the biggest challenges worldwide. The reuse of the effluents of wastewater treatment plants constitutes a significant and constantly available water resource that can be used for purposes such as irrigation. However, municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants face an increasing amount of emerging pollutants.