DESCRIPTION OF ACTION
The project will investigate the use of fibre-rich side streams from the forest industry, i.e. fibre sludges and nutrient fibres, to bind nitrogen present or produced by mineralisation in the soil after the growing season, to retain it until the next growing season and to then release it for crops. The aim is to prevent nutrient leaching during the autumn and winter and increase the use of fibre sludges and nutrient fibres as fertiliser products. Field and soil monolith experiments will be carried out to determine the optimal rate of use that will help to achieve the above-mentioned aim, but will not reduce crop yields in the next season. The effects of the fibre-rich side streams will be compared with those of the use of undersown and cover crops. As a special issue, the use of fibre sludge accumulated at the bottom of the Lielahti bay in Tampere will be investigated. The project will identify applications for the method, establish demonstration sites on farms in the area and communicate the results in the form of reports and videos, which will be disseminated through the project website.
SCHEDULE
2018–2020
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT AND FUNDING
Funding from the programme to promote the recycling of nutrients (Raki), Ministry of the Environment
EUR 513,300 (Ministry of the Environment: EUR 290,000)
MAIN IMPLEMENTING PARTY AND CONTACT
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)