Three farms in Nocton Fen, Edlington and Leadenhall are now conducting field trials to improve sustainability when growing potatoes, supported by controlled environment agriculture specialists, Light Science Technologies.
Begun in 2023, the TRIP (Transformative Reduced Input in Potatoes) project is a 3-year research program to develop methods of growing potatoes with fewer inputs of inorganic nutrients, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and energy.
The aim is to identify scalable farming techniques and reduce resulting emissions of greenhouse gases, including CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and N2O (Nitrous Oxide).
Now in its second year, the TRIP project has progressed to trials now being performed on British farms to test their findings in a real-world growing environment.
“Since the project’s inception, we have been excited by the prospect of changing the way potatoes are commercially grown. With promising results already coming from our scalable trials at the three farms, Light Science Technologies and the TRIP team are making major strides in our aim to help shape the future of food” says Craig Price, Operations Director of Light Science Technologies.
With more than 300 million tonnes of potatoes produced globally each year, the TRIP project expects to deliver significant developments which will make potato production more sustainable.
As initial research within agricultural technology is typically performed in controlled laboratories, the advance to outdoor field trials is an exciting step for the TRIP project.
To support the project, Light Science Technologies have developed their sensorGROW system to measure N2O emission from the soil. The sensorGROW system allows growers to collect real-time data on light, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels and pressure, empowering them to make more informed decisions to optimise yields.
“Environmental monitoring is very common in research, but it’s not quite customary in commercial growing yet. With the latest farm trials in the TRIP project, research is being performed on a larger growing scale meaning more data is collected, allowing for even bigger crop yields” adds Craig.
As N2O emissions are a major contributor to global warming, Light Science Technologies’ involvement with the sensorGROW is vital for measuring the sustainable impacts within potato growing.
“Our system is the first fully portable in-situ device capable of providing a comprehensive view of N2O measurements. Using our products, we have helped push research onward with data driven results on crop growing emissions. We look forward to sharing the final research findings when the project concludes in harvest 2025!” states Craig.
The TRIP project is being delivered by a partnership of organisations, including Bangor University, James Hutton Institute and Dyson Farming Research, as well as Light Science Technologies.
More information about the TRIP Trial project can be found at: https://www.triptrials.co.uk/
