NODES - SPOKE 6 Project FORMIDABILÆ - D3.1 Regenerative agriculture and soil functioning, resilient forage systems

This deliverable presents the progress of field activities conducted under Tasks 3.1 and 3.2 of the NODES project, which aim to improve soil health and promote sustainable forage production through regenerative practices and functional biodiversity. Field trials were established in the Emilia-Romagna and Piemonte regions of Northern Italy to evaluate the effects of conservation practices, plant community composition, and nitrogen fertilization strategies on soil functionality, nutrient cycling, and crop performance. Data collection included soil sampling, plant physiological assessments, yield and quality measurements, and remote sensing. Preliminary results are presented in tables, highlighting the impact of treatments on cover crop biomass, maize forage yield and quality, grassland productivity, and soil nutrient content. The deliverable also describes a study in Piemonte investigating the use of spectral indices from drone imagery to identify forage yield and quality in response to sowing time and nitrogen fertilization. This document is a deliverable of the project FORMIDABILÆ ("Forage system to make resilient Maize, Dairy and Biogas supply chains for a Lasting Agricultural Ecosystem"), which promotes approaches aimed at improving the smart, resilient, circular and diversified farm to ensure food security and social economic sustainability of dairy food chains with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in this sector. This document is part of the project NODES which has received funding from the MUR – Missione 4, Componente 2, Investimento 1.5 – Creazione e rafforzamento di “Ecosistemi dell’innovazione”, costruzione di “leader territoriali di R&S'' – del PNRR funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU with grant agreement no. ECS00000036