Quantifying the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum

In-person workshop at Lancaster University on 15 December 2021. Hybrid event- Register online (Eventbrite) for in-person or webinar attendance.

To register: https://www.eventbrite.es/e/quantifying-the-soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum-tickets-221320705187

Soils provide multiple services to society: supporting food production by supplying resources to nourish crop growth, regulating global water and nutrient cycles and sequestering CO₂. Nevertheless, human activities can result in significant, although often insidious, degradation of soil that compromises its ability to deliver these services. With climate change causing changes in rainfall patterns (frequency and intensity), there is increasing interest in managing agricultural systems to ensure their resilience. This might include using new crop varieties that can minimise soil erosive losses, and/or or adding soil amendments might enhance the ability of crops to acquire resources. When water is scarce, judicious irrigation scheduling can enhance crop water use efficiency, but this relies on soil and/or plant sensors that can integrate plant perception of its environment. A range of measurement techniques, both under development and commercially available, offer new opportunities to better manage soil and water.

• 09:30-10:15 – John Quinton (Lancaster)
  • Detecting soil degradation and restoration
• 10:15-10:35 – Ryan Edge (Lancaster)
  • Root-soil interactions enhancing crop-soil functions
• 10:35-10:55 – Vasileios Giannakopoulos (Lancaster)
  • Surfactant effects on plant water relations
• 10:55-11:15 Katharina Huntenburg (Lancaster & NIAB)
  • Using MRI to quantify soil and tuber water content of potatoes

COFFEE BREAK

• 11:45-12:15 – Andy Hirons (Lancaster & Myerscough College)
  • Novel techniques for irrigating trees in the nursery
• 12:15-12:45 – Tony Peloe (Delta-T Devices, UK)
  • Commercial developments in soil water instrumentation

LUNCH

Afternoon Workshop

Tony will be available after lunch to demonstrate a range of instruments and interact in-person with LEC researchers