Projects / Programmes
January 1, 2004
- December 31, 2008
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 4.03.00 |
Biotechnical sciences |
Plant production |
|
| 1.03.00 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Biology |
|
| 4.02.00 |
Biotechnical sciences |
Animal production |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B006 |
Biomedical sciences |
Agronomics |
Sustainable Agriculture, healthy food, organic agriculture, harmful organisms, mycotoksins, pesticide application, pesticide residues, phytophysiology, vine growing, vegetable growing, fruit growing, cattle breeding, agriculture mechanisation, agriculture economics
Researchers (32)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Agriculture plays a multipurpose role in the environment since beside its basic, i.e. economic function, it plays an important ecological, environmental, social and cultural role. Therefore, the principles of sustainable development can not avoid the agriculture, its goal as to sustainability being the production of healthy food, reduction of negative influence on environment, preservation of biotic diversity, soil fertility and care of cultural landscape. The presented program entitled "Sustainable Agriculture" deals with the research of production technologies of fruit, grapes, vegetables and field crops, with the methods of wine production and with animal husbandry, all this in the sense of competitiveness and lesser pressure on the environment. Special emphasis is paid to plant protection, the prevention of spreading of harmful organisms, and to the controlled use of phytopharmaceutical products (PPP), which will be reflected in a higher quality of the foodstuffs produced. Further on, we study factors on the level of primary agricultural production influencing the contamination of food (cereals, vegetable, and wine) and animal feed with mycotoxins, and search for the solutions to diminish the risk. The research of protein metabolism in ruminants and the research of some methods in plant production, especially fertilisation, contribute to the reduction of the pressure on the environment by nitrogen and to a controlled ammonia emission.
The research project include the following concrete subjects:
- Improvement of the existing and development of the sustainable production technologies in fruit-, vine-, and vegetable growing using an appropriate choice of varieties, a balanced plant protection and an adjusted mechanisation to assure competitive products as to quantity, yet of better quality and lesser pressure on the environment.
- Study of phytophysiological processes on the practical level of growing of fruit trees and grapevine. Investigations: The process of fruit abscission in apple-tree; optimal fruit-tree load from the viewpoint of fruit quality; tolerance of the combinations variety/rootstock to stress conditions such as drought in grapevine; the use of previous crops in strawberry growing; solarisation and mycorhization in small fruit; factors influencing flower bud formation in apple-tree; determination of reasons for natural fruitlet thinning of fruit plants;
- Phytophagous and phytopathogenic organisms. Investigations: Identification, inventory making and geographic distribution of viruses, bacteria, nematodes and certain insects; microbiological activity of soil and interactions among hosts, parasites and their carriers; the influence of virus infections on economically important plant properties; resistance of harmful organisms to PPP;
- Introduction of precise farming systems as a consequence of development of special agricultural mechanisation. Investigations: Ecological soil cultivation; emission of hotbed gasses; reduction of mechanical damage of soil; localisation of required fertilisers conforming to the variability of soil and requirements of plants; technology of bringing PPP onto agricultural plants;
- Technology of wine production. Investigations: Monitoring of ochratoxin A content in Slovene and imported wines; determination of authenticity of Slovene wines; investigations of isotopic structure of sugars with the purpose of determination of geographic origin of wine; biological availability of anthocians and hydroxycinnamon acids;
- Animal husbandry. Investigations: Study of protein metabolism in ruminants; reduction of pressure on the environment by nitrogen by means of optimisation of animal nutrition; selection of cattle for milk yield in less optimal breeding conditions; study of the presence of mycotoxins in animal feeds and foodstuffs;
- Development of rural area and sustainable agriculture.
Significance for science
The proposed research program was included in the wide trend of investigations on the sustainable development of agriculture which are in progress - so to say - all over the world. In the search of sustainable production technologies we have linked up with numerous international projects, since with the use of the present production system in Slovenia we are facing similar difficulties of pressure on the environment as are the European countries with the most developed agriculture. The knowledge about the spread of phytophagous and phytopathogenic organisms and their biology and ecology has a wider meaning since the nature of harmful organisms does not know artificial barriers (state borders) which makes their spreading uncontrolled. The presently established production technologies in fruit, vegetable and vine growing, wine production, agricultural engineering and cattle breeding in Slovenia have reached the stage at which their improvement (especially in the direction towards sustainable development) would also be able to contribute to the treasury of the latest findings in the world: the research of ecological production in fruit growing, mycorrhizal fungi and solarisation of soil, techniques of precise and controlled deposit of plant protection chemicals, technologies of soil cultivation and knowledge about the use of energy by agricultural machines, investigations of phytophysiological processes in stress situations, establishment of databases of Slovene wines for the purpose of comparison with EU countries, study of biological availability of polyphenols to human organism (currently one of the most researched topics in the field of nutrition), ochratoxin content in Slovene wines... All the issues mentioned above are among the most up-to-date research topics in the world since the sustainable development (and the concrete topics mentioned above connected with it) may be the solution of many critical questions of the whole developed world.
Significance for the country
a) For a sustainable social-economical development: Due to a simultaneous consideration of physical, economic and social aspect the results of such investigations are of major importance for further sustainable development of the Slovene countryside and society in general. The complexity of the problems of sustainable development of agriculture could be solved only by integrating different disciplines of agricultural production which is undoubtedly reflected in the development of entire Slovene countryside, the area and the society as such. A distinctive interdisciplinarity of the program group was expressed by the synthesis of researchers in physiology of development of agricultural plants, application and detection of plant protection chemicals, agricultural engineering, animal nutrition and economy of agriculture. This variety of the group was used to further develop the sustainable production technologies which was on the one hand ecologically acceptable and on the other hand - by their quality and also profitability - competitive on the European market. Taking into consideration the principles of sustainability, beside a systematic utilisation of natural conditions for the production of food, agriculture in the rural areas of Slovenia has to cultivate the countryside, open the living space and enable its mastering in the strategical and ecological sense. b) For the technological development: Introduction of up-to-date environment friendly production technologies place the Slovene farmer side by side with the achievements and agricultural practice in the developed countries of Europe. The program of sustainable development stimulates with its multidisciplinary approach the development of those production technologies in agriculture which are less pressing on the environment but which at the same time ensure sufficiently profitable yields to be competitive as to quantity and quality. Technologies of ecological apple production, production of small fruit and especially that of strawberries was set up following environmentally more acceptable methods, certain technological methods of vine and vegetable growing will be simplified by choosing suitable varieties (and rootstocks), and the technologies of wine production in the sense of lower contents of harmful substances (ochratoxin, sulphur) was improved. The research will contribute to a more competitive cattle breeding. Many new findings and improvements was expected in the field of plant protection. Plant protection chemicals are actually one of the most critical problems of modern agriculture. Co-operation of experts in plant protection, those in agricultural engineering and fruit or vegetable growing resulted in the improvement of technological methods of application of plant protection chemicals. The effect of plant protection chemicals on harmful organisms was improved using techniques of their precise application and considering the physiological facts of growth and development of plants and findings on spreading of harmful organisms, which result in quantitative reduction of cumulative yearly amount of these chemicals on plants and in the environment. c) For the strengthening of national identity and preservation of rich natural and cultural heritage: Preservation of settlement of the Slovene countryside means at the same time preservation of the national identity of the Slovene nation. It is only the active agriculture that is capable of preserving the rural area cultivated, in the opposite case it may come to the process of overgrowing the cultivated areas with forest since according to its natural disposition the majority of Slovenian territory would be covered with forest. Cultivated agricultural area, the so called cultivated or cultural landscape (fields, meadows, pastures, permanent plantations) represents the basic richess of our cultural heritage.
Most important scientific results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
