Environmental and ecological effects of crop rotation under different fertilization and management practices

According to the European Economic Area (EEA), agricultural production across the EU15 contributes over 40% to methane emissions and over 50% to nitrous oxide emissions. Nitrous oxide is produced during the conversion of nitrogen from mineral and organic fertilizers and its fixation in agricultural soils. Organic farming operates at lower nutrient levels, thus promising lower nutrient losses. The basic hypothesis of the MIDAIR project is that cost-effective reduction strategies in agriculture must be based on models that consider carbon and nitrogen fluxes between all subsystems in agricultural production and include models with regional and farm-specific variations.
MIDAIR aims to develop region- and system-specific, cost-effective GHG (Global Heavy Fuel Oxide) reduction strategies for organic and conventional dairy farms in Europe. Gumpenstein is involved in long-term nitrous oxide measurements on an intra-Alpine crop rotation of dairy farms. These measurements will be carried out in four additional production areas (in Northern Europe, in the so-called "cow belt", in Mediterranean regions, and in "other" temperature ranges). The system- and region-specific emission factors will then be used for model development.
A field trial conducted by the BAL Gumpenstein will be used for these environmentally relevant measurements, in which, in addition to nitrous oxide measurements, other parameters such as leachate will be recorded.