The Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation - State Research Institute

The Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation - State Research Institute

Organisation type: 
Research institutions
Country: 
Poland
Short name: 
IUNG
Description: 

The Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation-State Research Institute (IUNG-PIB) is the
largest and the oldest agriculture research and development centre in Poland, conducting the
studies under the supervision of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The
broad range of its activities comprises crop production, soil science and fertilisation, as well as
the recognition and protection of agricultural areas against various forms of degradation. The main
research topics related to these fields are:
- soil science and the assessment of natural agricultural production conditions,
- fertilisation management of soil fertility and fertiliser use,
- soil tillage and crop rotation management,
- production of cereals and fodder crops,
- analysis of various types of agricultural farming systems,
- aspects of agriculture biotechnology,
- microbiology and plant phytochemistry,
- the impact of farming on the environment,
- adaptation of agriculture to climate change,
- development of knowledge and technologies for reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations through management of agricultural emissions and carbon sequestration,
- development of agricultural decision support systems,
- low carbon agriculture towards the mitigation of climate change,
- agricultural irrigation,
- ICT for agriculture: building architectures, algorithms, GUIs and testing on IUNG's 10 large research farms across Poland.

IUNG operates at the frontiers of innovation in agricultural sector in Poland. The Institute takes part in many scientific projects and serves as the main point of contact for the Ministry of Agriculture for the agri-environmental analyses for the area of Poland. IUNG was actively involved in the development of the innovative irrigation support system ENORASIS, conducted within a FP7 project financed under the call “Eco-innovation”. Having a large network of our own research farms and extensive network of contacts in the agricultural sector in Poland, we were charged with coordinating pilot implementation of the ENORASIS system in five pilot sites: two in Poland, one in Serbia, one in Turkey and one in Cyprus. Since ENORASIS we have gained new contacts with various industries and research units outside agricultural sector, which are interested in the introducement of ICT into agricultural sector.
Ongoing projects include:
- LCAGRI - low carbon agriculture practices tested in 8 farms belonging to IUNG-PIB;
- SustainFarm;
- AFINET;
- DiverImpacts;
- LiveSEED, etc.

Recent projects invclude:
1. CANTOGETHER, Crops and animals together (2012-2015), 7FP
2. CATCH-C, Compatibility of Agricultural Management Practices and Types of Farming in the EU to enhance Climate Change Mitigation and Soil Health (2012-2014), 7FP
3. RECARE, Preventing and remediating degradation of soils in Europe through land care (2013-2018), 7FP
4. ENORASIS, ENvironmental Optimization of IRrigAtion Management with the Combined uSe and Integration of High PrecisIon Satellite Data, Advanced Modeling, Process Control and Business Innovation (2012-2014), 7FP
5. Monitoring of soil quality in Poland (2010-2012), contract for Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection

International: 
No