Program 

12:30 – 12:40 - Welcome by Head of Department, Professor Jørgen E. Olesen  

12:40 – 13:10 - “Securing high utilisation and low losses of nutrients to the environment From bio-based fertilisers” by Peter Sørensen 
“Animal manures and other organic wastes are important sources of nutrients in both conventional and organic farming, and proper management of the organic fertilisers is important for avoiding nitrogen losses to the environment in gases and by leaching. Our understanding of the importance of manure properties, treatments and application methods for the turnover of nitrogen in soil has improved significantly in recent years. Use of nitrogen-15 isotopes as tracers has been a useful tool for understanding the cycling of manure nitrogen. These studies have revealed that part of the nitrogen in manures is released slowly in soil over many years. An increasing use of manures and wastes for biogas production has positive effects on greenhouse gas emissions, but low nitrogen utilisation and ammonia losses from biogas manures are challenging. The presentation will address potentials for optimising the utilisation of nitrogen in organic fertilisers and for reducing losses to the environment.” 

13:10 – 13:20 - Q&A 

13:20 – 13:30: Break 

13:30 – 14:00 - “Taking the heat off - Temperature effects in soil microbial ecology” by Lars Elsgaard 

“Temperature has a fundamental influence on microbiological processes and is a proximal regulator of the catabolism leading to the formation of, e.g., the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Therefore, a warming-induced acceleration of microbial processes can lead to a positive feedback on climate change. Studies of how microorganisms respond and adapt to changing temperatures are important both for prediction in ecosystem models and for the development of technological solutions that can mitigate the environmental consequences of agricultural production systems. Indeed, temperature responses will affect transformation processes in all ecosystems, and the talk will highlight results from research ranging from direct temperature effects on soil enzyme activity and microbial processes to the soil ecosystem level. Finally, the role of microbial temperature responses will be extended to the recent debate on carbon sequestration and stability of biochar in soil agroecosystems” 

14:00 – 14:10 – Q&A 

14:10 – 14:20 - Break 

14:20 – 14:50 - “Precision Agriculture: Past, Present, and Future” by Davide Cammarano 

Precision Agriculture is a discipline that started in the mid-80s as a mean to manage field’s variability. Several aspects of the agronomic management of the fields have been subject to site-specific optimization using different types of technologies. Despite the initial success there has been a plateau on this technology for a number of years. In the last 10 years, there has been an increasing interest in “precision agriculture” with many companies and startup offering digital solutions for the agronomic management. Despite doing so the global adoption of proper precision agriculture management is rather low and the reasons for that have to be found in several aspects, expectations and training of people working in this particular scientific field.  

Going forward, climate change and increased climate variability poses additional challenges to managing agricultural fields and therefore precision agriculture can be a relevant technology in mitigating and adapting to climate change.  

This Lecture will critically address the past, present and future directions of this research field and offer an overview of what precision agriculture can contribute to sustainability from 

14:50 – 15:00 – Q&A 

15:00 – Reception  

Registration No later than 19 January 2024  

Please sign up here:  Inaugural Professorial Lectures by Lars Elsgaard / Peter Sørensen / Davide Cammarano