AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY AARHUS UNIVERSITY AARHUS

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY AARHUS UNIVERSITY

AARHUS UNIVERSITY Faculties: • • Science and Technology Arts Health Aarhus BSS Statistics: No. of students: 42, 500 No. of staff: 11, 500

AARHUS UNIVERSITY Core areas: • Education • Research • Collaboration

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Departments: • • • Agroecology Animal Science Bioscience Chemistry Computer Science Engineering Environmental Science Food Science Geoscience Mathematics Molecular Biology and Genetics Physics and Astronomy

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY Staff: Scientists (faculty) Postdocs Ph. D students Total staff 55 42 61 approx. 250 Publications (2016): Peer-reviewed international papers Other research publications Popular science publications 260 130 69

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY Budget 2018 -21 Contract funding Basic funding/education Special grants External grants/sales Overhead

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY Head of department Talent/Ph. D Education Business Policy support Research Secretariat STAB Research facilities – MARK Experimental station – Flakkebjerg Experimental station – Foulum Experimental station – South Jutland Entomology and Plant Pathology PATENT Crop Health CROP Soil Physics and Hydropedology JORD Soil Fertility JORNÆR Climate and Water KLIMA Agricultural Systems and Sustainability SYSTEM

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY • • Vision: The Department of Agroecology aims at belonging to the elite of research institutions concerned with agroecosystems and aims at creating, developing and converting pioneering research for the advancement of the public bioeconomy nationally and internationally. Mission: The Department of Agroecology is a department which contributes to sustainable production and growth through outstanding agroecosystems research, consultancy and teaching.

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY Research flagships: Areas in which the department is particularly strong and from which results that are in keeping with global challenges and goals are delivered. The four flagships are: • Climate-Smart Agri-Food Systems • Sustainable Pest Management • Sustainable Nutrient Management • Soil Functions The interaction and dynamics between the research flagships and the department as a whole are symbolised in the figure.

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

AARHUS UNIVERSITY CLIMATE-SMART AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS • Insight into the interactions between climate and agricultural production, including production systems that can improve resource use efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help us adapt to climate change • Methods for quantifying the overall climate and environmental effects that are related to the production of food and biobased materials, and how various players in the supply chain can develop ways of collaborating to improve resource use efficiency, credibility and value creation

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABLE PEST MANAGEMENT • • Biology and regulation of pests in agricultural and horticultural crops, Biological control Fate of pesticides in the environment Effects of natural chemical substances in agricultural crops Decision support systems Crop quality Crop nutrition physiology Life cycle analyses Farmer behaviour with regard to crop protection

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABLE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT • • Improving use of nutrients from plant residues and fertiliser (commercial, aniaml manure, by-products) Reducing emission of gasses Reducing impact on the aquatic environment Ensuring soil fertility

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SOIL FUNCTIONS • • Soil and its functions Threats to the soil resource, such as pollution, decreasing organic material content, erosion, and compaction Innovative sensors for characterisation and mapping of the soil resource Innovative methods for optimising the soil as a natural water treatment plant

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY Research sections: • • • Agricultural Systems and Sustainability Climate and Water Crop Health Entomology and Plant Pathology Soil Biology and Nutrients Soil Physics and Hydropedology

AARHUS UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS AND SUSTAINABILITY Research areas: • Life cycle assessment of food and other bio-based products • Organic animal production • Organisation of food systems • Productivity and profitability in farming • Sustainable resource management

AARHUS UNIVERSITY CLIMATE AND WATER Research areas • • • Agroecosystems modelling Agrohydrology Climate change impacts and adaptation Crop physiology and biomass production Informatics and GIS Water quality

AARHUS UNIVERSITY CROP HEALTH Research areas: Disease and pest management Ecosystem services GMO Herbology and application technique Natural product chemistry and environmental chemistry • Pesticide resistance • Plant adaptations and mutualism • Seed science and technology • • •

AARHUS UNIVERSITY ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT PATHOLOGY Research areas: • • • Ecological modelling lab Entomology Honey bee diseases, genetics and pollination Molecular characterisation and diagnosis of pests Molecular ecology The Global Rust Reference Center

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SOIL FERTILITY Research areas: • • • Biochar Cover crops Grassland ecosystem services Microbial ecology of soil and manure Nutrients in wastes and fertilisers

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SOIL PHYSICS AND HYDROPEDOLOGY Research areas: • • • Arctic soils Digital Soil Mapping Soil mechanical behaviour Soil quality Water and contaminant transport

AARHUS UNIVERSITY LOCATIONS 1. AU Foulum 2. Foulumgaard Experimental Station 3. Askov Experimental Station 4. AU Flakkebjerg 5. Campus Aarhus 2 1 5 3 4

AARHUS UNIVERSITY AU FOULUM

AARHUS UNIVERSITY AU FLAKKEBJERG

AARHUS UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FACILITIES • • • State-of-the-art laboratories Greenhouses, semifield facilities and lysimeter units Climate chambers Climate stations Drones World’s largest experimental biogas plant Biorefinery 285 hectares of farmland for field trials Global Rust Reference Center Access to onsite research farm animals

AARHUS UNIVERSITY FIELD TRIALS AT AU FOULUM Semifield DONG (Organic platform) VIRKN MULTIPLANT CENTS ECOSERV PROTEIN ROWCROP CENTS ROWCROP Slurry experiments Perennial energy crops

AARHUS UNIVERSITY Kontakt: Finn Christensen SEMIFIELD FACILITY - FOULUM

AARHUS UNIVERSITY DEGREE PROGRAMMES BSc in Agrobiology MSc in Agro. Environmental Management MSc in Agrobiology - Organic Agriculture and Food Systems (double degree)

AARHUS UNIVERSITY BSc in Agrobiology • Offered in collaboration between the Department of Agroecology, Department of Animal Science and Department of Food Science • The student can choose between three tracks: – – – Plant production Animal biology and production Food science

AARHUS UNIVERSITY MSc in Agrobiology Focus on sustainable production of plants and animals The student can choose between three tracks: • • • Animal health and welfare Plant nutrition and health Organic agriculture (single degree) or Organic agriculture and food systems (double degree)

AARHUS UNIVERSITY MSc in Agrobiology – Examples of courses in plant nutrition and health • • Crop nutrition and physiology Crop pest biology and management Crop production and feed quality Cropping systems Diagnosis of plant diseases Organic agriculture Soil biology and fertility

AARHUS UNIVERSITY MSc in Agro-Environmental Management • Focus on agricultural production in the light of environment, biodiversity and climate • Offered in collaboration with the Department of Bioscience, Department of Environmental Science and Aarhus BSS • Covers topics such as agroecology, policy-making, analysis and management, carbon cycling and climate change, nutrient cycling, GIS and modelling

AARHUS UNIVERSITY Ph. D PROGRAMME • Approx. 70 Ph. D students affiliated • AGRO offers several Ph. D courses every year

AARHUS UNIVERSITY PUBLIC SECTOR CONSULTANCY Aarhus University has made an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark regarding research-based policy support. Aarhus University is committed to: • Carrying out strategic, problem-oriented research and development within the agreed performance areas • Supplying research-based advice to the ministry within the performance areas • Communicating relevant information to the ministry, the industry and other interested parties

AARHUS UNIVERSITY PUBLIC SECTOR CONSULTANCY RELATED TO FOOD AND AGRICULTURE • The section of the agreement regarding food and agriculture is coordinated by DCA - Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture and covers three performance areas. • The Department of Agroecology is responsible for the performance area “Crop Production”. • Within this performance area there are eight scientific effort areas.

AARHUS UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC EFFORT AREAS The Department of Agroecology is responsible for eight scientific effort areas under “Crop Production”: • Crop breeding and pollination, crop health aspects and crop protection, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) • Climate-smart production systems • Fertilisers, standards, and nitrogen prognosis • Technology – agriculture and crop production • Soil and soil conditions, including digital data, maps and picture analysis • Green transition and biomass • Targeted regulation and measures • Agricultural reform and public green benefits

AARHUS UNIVERSITY PUBLIC SECTOR CONSULTANCY The agreement with the ministry also includes other cross-disciplinary tasks: • Action Plans on the Aquatic Environment • Water Framework Directive • Pesticide Action Plan • Green Growth and Danish Agriculture 2020

AARHUS UNIVERSITY THANK YOU Read more about the university at www. au. dk Read more about the department at www. agro. au. dk