Presentation of the PRIMA project: new low cost strategies of crop based on biodiversity and remote sensing to reduce the application of nitrogen fertilizers in the Mediterranean area

F. García-Sánchez, S. Simón-Grao, L. Yabor
Horticultural crops, in the Mediterranean area of Europe and Africa, are of great socio-economic importance both in terms of production and cultivated area. To achieve the agronomic performance of these crops and to obtain a quality harvest, it is necessary to apply nitrogen fertilisers. However, in this geographical location, there are areas vulnerable to nitrates. The excessive use of nitrogen fertilisers containing nitrates is polluting natural resources such as seas, lakes, coastal lagoons, aquifers, etc., leading to eutrophication of waters and thus degrading the environment. The PRIMA project aims to use plants and/or plant extracts that inhibit nitrification in agricultural systems to reduce nitrate pollution in soils and waters in agricultural areas. Nitrification inhibitors are natural organic compounds from plants that inhibit the conversion of ammonium to nitrate, reducing the presence of the latter form of nitrogen in the environment. The project is being carried out in four countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Morocco. This communication will present what the project consists of, as it started in July 2023 and trials are currently underway. It will explain what nitrification inhibitors are, what their mode of action is, how they will be used in the experimental plots of horticultural crops such as watermelon, broccoli, pepper and tomato, and the technological tools for monitoring.
García-Sánchez, F., Simón-Grao, S. and Yabor, L. (2025). Presentation of the PRIMA project: new low cost strategies of crop based on biodiversity and remote sensing to reduce the application of nitrogen fertilizers in the Mediterranean area. Acta Hortic. 1416, 509-512
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1416.65
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1416.65
horticultural crops, NBI plants, botanical extracts, nitrate pollution reduction
English

Acta Horticulturae