The Project
The
Mission
The agriculture of the future must be more efficient and sustainable. Even today, cropping systems can become smaller and more diverse through the use of highly flexible autonomous field robots—leading to diversified agricultural landscapes. The goal is to reduce the impact of agriculture on soil in these landscapes compared to conventional farming. Lower soil stress enables improved soil health, which in turn serves as the foundation for productive and resilient agriculture that can sustain itself in the future.
SoilRob is committed to an ambitious mission: Enhancing soil health through the use of autonomous field robots in diversified agricultural landscapes. SoilRob aims to take a pioneering role in designing, implementing, and evaluating diverse and soil-friendly agricultural landscapes of the future.
Soil Health
Improving soil health in agricultural landscapes
Diversification
Diversification of agricultural landscapes
Digitalization
Use of digital tools in agriculture
Future of Agriculture
Use of autonomous field robots
The
Process
The implementation of the scientific objectives pursued in SoilRob is structured into three work packages.
In Work Package 1, extensive high-resolution measurements of various soil parameters are first conducted in the patchCROP landscape laboratory. The resulting data will be used to create a catalog of soil health and plant productivity indicators. This catalog will undergo a comprehensive analysis and evaluation to identify the most meaningful indicators. This soil health assessment tool will then be used in Work Package 2 to study and evaluate cropping systems managed with field robots across Germany.
The various project partner locations, combined with their site-specific soil types and crops, also represent a gradient of yield potential:
- High yield potential in Bavaria and Lower Saxony
- Medium yield potential in Saxony
- Low yield potential in Brandenburg
These satellite trials offer the opportunity to compare the influence of different robot models under real-world conditions across various locations and crops. Additionally, they help identify site-specific trade-offs in using field robots.
In Work Package 3, a digital twin of the landscape trials will be created. Using innovative sensor technology, soil properties will be digitized in the field and serve as a foundation for visual simulation in a farming simulator. Based on this, models can be developed to assess the impact of field robots on soil health.
Comprehensive Soil Investigations
- Soil-Based Ecosystem Services with Robotics
- Integrated Soil Health Assessment Tool
- Long-Term Surveys
Scaling of Soil Health
- Application of Selective Indicators
- Site-Specific Evaluation
- Field Robot-Specific Impacts
Visual Simulation
- Innovative Sensor Technology
- Farming Simulator
- Digital Twin
The objectives
The project contributes to achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations through multiple approaches. On the one hand, it aims to demonstrate how the use of autonomous field robots and the resulting spatial diversification of agricultural landscapes can promote various (soil-based) ecosystem services. On the other hand, the project plays a crucial role in knowledge transfer and public outreach, supporting more sustainable farming practices and regional transformation of cropping systems.
Life on Land
- Promoting biodiversity
- Diversifying agricultural landscapes to enhance ecosystem services
Climate Action
- Quantifying the impact on soil carbon storage
- Using renewable energy to power field robots
Zero Hunger
- Ensuring stable yields through diverse crops and crop rotations
- Optimizing nitrogen balance
Clean Water
- Improving soil structure to enhance infiltration and water retention
- Reducing nitrate leaching through optimized fertilization
Sustainable Consumption and Production
- Reducing synthetic pesticides through mechanical weed control
- Targeted public outreach and knowledge transfer
Experimental
Sites
The experiments in SoilRob are spread across three locations in Germany. The patchCROP landscape laboratory, where the investigations of Work Package 1 take place, is located in Tempelberg (Brandenburg), near ZALF (Müncheberg, Brandenburg). The satellite trials from Work Package 2 are conducted at the Institute for Sugar Beet Research in Göttingen (Lower Saxony) and at the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture in Ruhstorf a.d. Rott (Bavaria).
Partner
institutions
HOCHSCHULE OSNABRÜCK
Agro-Nordwest Experimental Field
ATB
Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy
Leibniz-Innovationshof
for Sustainable Bioeconomy
INSTITUT FÜR ZUCKERRÜBENFORSCHUNG
FarmerSpace Experimental Field
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT DRESDEN
Landnetz Experimental Field
BAYERISCHE LANDESANSTALT FÜR LANDWIRTSCHAFT
LfL Site Ruhstorf-Kleeberg
BILL GATES
"We should discuss soil as much
as we talk about coal"
LEONARDO DA VINCI
"We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself."
Charles E. Kellogg
"Essentially, all life depends upon the soil"
Mahatma Gandhi
"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves."
William Bryant Logan