Department of Food Science

I study vegetables, their growth and the relationship with soil fertility. New cropping systems, cover crops and deep roots play a major role to increase the nitrogen use efficiency and decrease the leaching of nitrate of the production system. I work on the development of plant based fertilisers and soil improvers, for example by use of legume biomass and recycling of waste for composting. The aim is to build soil quality and carbon, while securing high vegetable yields. To attain new knowledge about the interactions in agro-ecosystems, we conduct large field trials under organic or conventional farming practice. We analyse for nitrogen, other nutrients and microbial activity in soil and plants, as well as register root growth by the use of minirhizotrons to 2.5 m soil depth. The focus is on the large volume vegetables such as cabbages, root and leafy vegetables and leeks, as well as legumes.

In addition, I study the relationships between agronomic conditions and the quality of vegetable products: harvest quality, sensory properties and the content of substances of importance for human health. The focus is on the genetic material (traditional and modern cultivars), the availability of plant nutrients and suboptimal growth conditions for the quality of vegetables, for example the content of glucosinolates in cabbages.

Coordinator of:

DoubleCrop

ClimateVeg

SureVeg

SoilCom

ComCrop