History - major achievements
In 2009, the
project 2 057 1930 PO6R coordinated by Dr. Anna Nieróbca, titled "Use
of
remote measurements to identify and assess the degree of infestation of
plants
by the root rot disease" was completed. The aim of the project was to
examine the possibility of using remote methods (multispectral images)
to
assess the degree of infestation by diseases of cereal stem base. The
study had
identified potential relationships between vegetation indices and
plants infestation
by root rot disease. The study was conducted on the long term
experiment field
with the crop rotation: winter wheat, winter triticale and barley.
Several
times during the growing season, aerial photos were performed at
selected sites:
multispectral using photo TETRACAM ADC camera and RGB photos by using
Sony digital
camera. At the same time at the same sites ground measurements were
performed.
The analysis conducted showed
that there are close links between vegetation indices obtained from
ground-based ADC images (NDVI, SAVI, IPVI), and the root infection
indices
(Gaeumannomyces graminis). During the three year study, only in 2006,
an infestation
of the winter wheat and winter triticale allowed remote identification
of
possible pathogens. The long and cold winter has had a great impact on
the
diversity index of vegetation in the spring. In 2007 and 2008, very
good cropping
conditions after the winter did not significantly differentiate the
vegetation
index of the test objects. The index of root infection by G. graminis
used in
this study, was an effective identifier of the disease, and clearly
correlated
with vegetation indices obtained on the basis of aerial photographs and
remote
sensing on the ground.
In order for effective remote sensing of vegetation index of diseases,
we
should consider: VARI (the group indices RGB) and index NDVI (the group
indices
using NIR channel). IPVI and SAVI indices show a slightly worse
performance
than the NDVI. The weakest proved to be an identifier index NIR / G.
The
results indicate that the methods of low altitude remote sensing are
effective
in the diagnosis of root infection in cereal crops, but are much worse
in
identifying root rot disease infection (P. herpotrichoides).
In 2009, the
research project PBZ-KBN-086/P04/2003, coordinated by prof. Dr hab.
Tadeusz
Górski titled "Extreme meteorological and hydrological events in Poland
(assessment of the events and forecasting their impact on human
environment)"
was finished.
An analysis of statistical distributions of basic crop yield in Poland
was
performed. Using the model predictions yield IPO yields, weather
indices for
the years 1951-2000 were determined and the reasons for the extremely
low
yields were presented. Based on the calculated indexes, there were
defined
weather effects for agricultural drought and excessive precipitation in
Poland.
The maps for the probability of low values of climatic water balance in
Poland,
linked to specific loss of yield of selected crops were developed. It
was found
that the yields expressed in physical or economical units have in
recent years
become more volatile, resulting in a higher risk for agricultural
production. It
was indicated that the acute drought weather caused crop losses in the
years
1959, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2006, while the yield losses due to excessive
rainfall
occurred between 1980 and 1997.
In the
winter, frosts and an insufficient thickness of the snow cover were the
cause
of yield losses in 1982, 1996, 2003 and 2006, and long lasting snow
cover in
1970, 1979, 1996, 2006. The biggest losses in crop yields occur in the
event of
the imposition of a few unfavourable weather conditions for crops in
different
growing seasons. Defaulting long snow cover, rainfall and excessive
heat and
lack of sunshine caused losses in 1962. Losses in yields in 1970 were
caused by
a drought that occurred in the autumn of 1969 and caused significant
delays and
difficulties in the sowing of winter cereals. The effect of autumn
drought was
compounded an acute and long winter of 1969/70. Yield losses of winter
cereals
and oilseed rape in 1982 occurred due to frost in January, when the
temperature
drops occurred reaching up to-25oC in the
absence of snow cover. In
the same year a shortage of precipitation from July to September,
clearly
showed the yields of potatoes and other root crops falling. Another
example,
when winter wheat yield losses were caused by cold winter and drought
in the
summer of 2006.
The
Department carried out three tasks in the multi-annual program,
"Shaping
the agricultural environment in accordance with the concept of
sustainable
development”
The task 1.2, "Developing indicators to assess sustainable management
of agricultural
environment," coordinated by prof. dr hab. Antoni Faber.
In this task, two groups of homogeneous
regions in terms of nitrate concentrations in shallow groundwater were
separated. In five voivodeship: Kujawsko-pomorskie, lubuskie, łódzkie,
wielkopolskie
and zachodnio-pomorskie, groundwater is exposed to elevated nitrate
pollution.
However, in none of these regions, the nitrate content in drainage
water did
not exceed the critical concentration adopted in the Nitrates
Directive.
Developed balances of N, P and K from the farms situated in areas
sensitive to
nutrient runoff from agriculture. Farms have been identified in areas
of
particular RZGW, where high positive balances in the balance were
noted. Based
on 40,000 soil samples, the acidity of soil in all local districts in
Poland
were determined. There are reasons to believe that in many local
districts soil
pH not only reduces yields, but also contributes to lower their
quality. The
critical thresholds of climatic water balance were determined to be
useful to
assess the prevalence of drought in the country and the estimation of
yield
losses that it can cause. The
task was
performed to examine the extent sustainability of agricultural
production in
different spatial scales. For this purpose, we established a database
for the
2,171 rural communes, which included 17 indicators characterising the
state of
agriculture in the aspects of sustainability: social, economic and
environmental. The product analysis is a universal indicator of the
level of
sustainability of agriculture in the cross-section of local district.
The task 2.8
"Assessment of the production, development and implementation of
cultivation technology for energy purposes," coordinated by prof. dr
hab.
Anthony Faber.
During the project conference
on energy crops and utilisation of agricultural production space was
organised
(4-5.06.2008). Conference participants represented the science,
agricultural
extension and energy. For the first time, in a country as large group
of
specialists from different fields have become familiar with the results
of
current research on the production and use of biomass energy. Within
the
project four experiments with five energy crops were conducted, which
have demonstrated
the need for thorough verification of the reference yield constituted
each year
by the MRiRW.
The use of
biomass in distributed power plant, especially for heating farm,
requires
improvement of boilers and combustion processes. Only then will farmers
with a
tangible benefit (eliminate or reduce expenditures for the purchase of
fuel)
and will improve environmental benefits, which are essential for
protection
against climate change.
Within the
task ware performed the following analysis:
1) assessment of the
productivity of energy crops in different habitats for the years
2004-2009,
2) evaluation of economic
efficiency of production of biomass for energy purposes
3) assessment of the energy
efficiency of the basic types of agricultural biomass for large and
distributed
energy systems,
4) characterisation of the
potential environmental effects of crops for energy purposes.
The task 2.9 "Improvement
of advisory systems for sustainable crop production," coordinated by
Dr.
Andrew Zaliwski.
In 2007, focussed on the work
on the development of advisory guidelines in fertilisation rates of
sulphur and
indicators for nitrogen and phosphorus balance at the field level and
to
improve selected programs, consulting and decision support systems:
NawSald,
MACROBIL, Plano RS, IPM IDSS, ZeaSoft and "System for agricultural
recommendations associated with the course of weather." A summary of
sulphur uptake by chosen crops was prepared and an algorithm for
determining
the needs of sulphur fertilisation was developed.
In 2008, work focused on
developing decision support systems available on the internet.
Algorithms
needed for decision support in sulphur fertilisation were developed.
The
administrations sides over the internet for “Internet decision support
system
in integrated plant” (IPM IDSS), and “System recommendations relating
to the
conduct of agricultural weather” (IPO) and a module for cyclic weather
data
transfer and aggregation of data. The workshops
on topics the task was organised in 30.09.2008.
In 2009, the
algorithm for calculating doses of sulphur for NawSald was developed. A
project
of a web application to list the contents of mineral nitrogen in the
soil
profile was developed and modules for presentation of data from 10
voivodeships
were made. An algorithm for the stock market of livestock in the farm
and the
algorithm for calculating the amount of NPK nutrients in natural
fertilizers
produced by the flock in the marketing year, which was implemented in
the
programs and MACROBIL NawSald. ZeaSoftValidation program was developed
to
automate the process of validation ZeaSoft.exe and was used for initial
validation
of the system. The central meteorological data module which powers
“advisory
system for sustainable crop production” was started
Opr. Andrzej Doroszewski