Field visit benchmarks

Within the framework of the EU Horizon project BENCHMARKS, around 25 international scientists visited ZALF to exchange ideas on the topic of “spatially diversified cropping systems and technologies for soil health monitoring.” They gained comprehensive insights into current research approaches and methods, both on the patchCROP plots and in our laboratories on the ZALF campus.

A particular highlight was the demonstration of the field robots Naio Oz and FarmDroid, which the guests were able to examine closely on-site.

During two methods workshop stations, we introduced selected measurement procedures that we use in our studies: The Hyprop system is used to record and analyze water retention curves, while so-called bait sticks serve as an indicator for biological soil activity. In this way, we were able to provide European soil scientists with practical insights into our work while simultaneously presenting our current methodological developments.