Project: Innovative orchard management enhances soil fertility, biodiversity and economic sustainability
| Acronym | DOMINO (Reference Number: 1939) |
| Duration | 01/05/2018 - 01/05/2021 |
| Project Topic | Weed control and crop protection and nutrition require high input supply in intensive organic fruit and grapevine cropping systems, causing undesired costs and ecological impacts including nutrient imbalances. Nonetheless, to reduce inputs might threaten crop yield and quality. The DOMINO project aims to improve long-term sustainability of intensive organic orchard and vineyard by innovative strategies expected to increase biodiversity as a source of resilience for the agroecosystems, and to reduce the dependency on external inputs. The proposed strategy includes: i) the introduction of new cash intercropping species, expected to contribute to plant nutrition and protection while increasing biodiversity; ii) the use of recycled organic amendments from composted waste and digestate to improve soil fertility and suppressiveness, as well as carbon balance of the system; iii) the introduction of microbial-based products for plant nutrition and protection to promote soil biodiversity and enhance inputs efficiency; iv) the introduction of overhead netting for crop protection; v) the overall designing of orchard management to promote eco-services. Nutrient budgets, soil parameters, root growth and plant physiology, occurrence of pests and diseases, yield and quality will be evaluated. Based on the outcomes new strategies for soil management, crop protection and fertilization will be developed in a regionally adapted multi-stakeholder approach with organic fruit and vine growers. |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | CORE Organic Cofund |
| Call | CORE Organic Call 2016 |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polytechnic University of Marche | Coordinator | Italy |
| 2 | Institute of Horticulture - Skierniewice | Partner | Poland |
| 3 | Centre Technique Interprofessionnel Fruits Légumes | Partner | France |
| 4 | Research Institute of Organic Agriculture | Partner | Switzerland |
| 5 | University Hohenheim | Partner | Germany |
| 6 | BioSudtirol | Partner | Italy |
| 7 | Fruit Growing Institute | Partner | Bulgaria |
| 8 | Laimburg Research Centre | Partner | Italy |
| 9 | Bio Vinschgau | Partner | Italy |
| 10 | Bioland Südtirol | Partner | Italy |
| 11 | SBR organic | Partner | Italy |
| 12 | Associazione Italiana Agricoltura Biologica | Partner | Italy |
| 13 | Fördergemeinschaft Ökologischer Obstbau e.V. | Partner | Germany |