Synergia

Title: Synergia - “SYstem change for New Ecology-based and Resource efficient Growth with high tech In Agriculture”

Researchers: Yueyu Lin, Simona M. Cristescu
Cost estimate: 7 M€
Funding: NWO Cross Over
Project partners: WUR, TU Eindhoven, TU Delft, University of Twente, OnePlanet, TiFN

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) awarded 7 mil. EUR to a research programme  into agricultural production systems: SYNERGIA (SYstem change for New Ecology-based and Resource efficient Growth with high tech In Agriculture). The goal is to develop and integrate fundamental knowledge from the biological, technical, and social sciences for the next generation of sustainable agricultural systems, based on the new concept of “technology-4-ecology-based farming” (T4E-farming). This is a national partnership between five Dutch universities (WUR-coordinator, TU Eindhoven, TU Delft, University of Twente, and Radboud University), technology and innovation centre OnePlanet, TiFN (top institute Food & Nutrition), and various parties from the business community. The consortium will perform research in three case studies: greenhouse horticulture, dairy farming, and arable farming.

Radboud University is represented by our group in dairy farming case study. We shall use our expertise in spectroscopy and breath analysis and contribute with the development of an optical sensor for (real-time) monitoring of methane emission in exhaled breath of cows, next to other relevant volatile compounds.