WEEDELEC 2017 We propose in this project an alternative solution to global chemical weeding, which combines aerial means for weed detection coupled with a robotized ground weeding system based on high voltage electrical energy. The project will rely on commercial solutions concerning the aerial and ground vehicles (respectively UAV and robot). It will more particularly focus on major technical and scientific issues for the development of a future integrated weeding solution, i.e.: - weed detection and identification, using hyperspectral imagery and deep learning techniques - weed behavior when they are exposed to electrical stress, especially by investigating the relationship between the kind of electrical shock to be applied and the weed electrical impedance and phenology. Questions related to aerial and robot-embedded weed detection systems will also be addressed, as well as possible environmental and safety effects of electrical shock usage on weeds, in order to design a safe integrated weeding strategy. This project draws on previous results obtained in the FP4 European project Patchwork (electrical weeding 1995), in the FP7 European project RHEA (Integrated weeding solution, 2012) and on the Plant@Net project, devoted to automatic plant identification by deep learning. It also relies on the expertise of plant phenology scientists and weed scientists. The WeedElec project will be an opportunity to enrich Plant@net image databases, to produce a database of electrical signatures of main weed species, to develop and test new robust algorithms for weed detection and identification, and to validate an innovative weeding solution with no chemicals. The experimentations will be led in field crop and market gardening plots, in order to cover variate crop and weed typologies

Ever-increasing waste production has prompted the need for new provisions regarding waste management to ensure sustainable development. There is now a global consensus among scientists, economists, politicians and civil society stakeholders on the necessity to recycle resources and close loops in a circular economy. Agricultural recycling makes it possible to effectively and synergistically use livestock, urban and agro-industrial organic waste (OW). From a waste management standpoint, aerobic digestion (composting) and anaerobic digestion are the most obvious and operational processes for OW treatment prior to soil application. Composting OW is seen as an effective method for diverting organic materials from landfills, while reducing the waste volume, eliminating pathogens and creating a stable product suitable for application in crop fields. Anaerobic digestion has also significantly increased in several European countries and represents an opportunity to convert OW into biogas and organic fertilizer (digestate). The choice of using either raw OW, compost or digestate as fertilizer and soil amendment should be based on a comprehensive assessment of potential benefits and negative effects. Among these negative effects, the lack of understanding regarding the impact of treatments on contaminant speciation, microbial pathogen selection and antimicrobial resistance emergence, and the scarcity of knowledge on the fate of contaminants following soil OW application are key scientific challenges that the DIGESTATE project aims to meet. The overall objective of DIGESTATE is to develop an original environmental assessment of OW treatments and agricultural recycling. Such environmental assessment involves estimation of environmental consequences (positive and negative) expected to result from OW treatment and recycling scenarios prior to decision making. This assessment will include indicators which are: (i) conventional (agronomic quality of the OW; energy recovery of treatment processes) and (ii) non-standard (fate of contaminants following OW application in water-soil-plant systems). We will focus our efforts on the ecodynamics of three main classes of contaminants in water-soil-plant systems: (i) trace elements: Cu and Zn, (ii) organic pollutants: PAHs, nonylphenols and pharmaceuticals and (iii) microbial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes. We will compare the impact of two major digestion treatments (composting, anaerobic digestion and their combination) on: (i) the speciation of organic and inorganic contaminants, the selection of particular microbial groups and genetic properties in OW, and (ii) the fate (phytoavailability and transport in soil) of contaminants after soil OW application. The scientific programme is based on laboratory experiments, modeling tools and multidisciplinary approaches. First, contaminant quantification and speciation will be assessed for selected raw and treated OW (WP1). Then fundamental knowledge will be produced on contaminant-bearing phases formed during OW treatment (WP2). After OW spreading on a soil, the proportion of contaminants taken up by plants or transported through the soil will be experimentally quantified (WP3). The experimental and modelling datasets from WP1, 2 and 3 will finally fuel the environmental assessment of OW treatment and recycling based on innovative assessment methodologies (WP4).

AZODURE aims to develop Azospirillum inoculation technology for cereal seeds so that it can be implemented in the next decade as an alternative agricultural practice to reduce fertilization needs and plant sensitivity to erratic climatic fluctuations, and satisfy social aspiration for an environmentally friendly agriculture that maximizes field eco-efficiency. Azospirillum is a naturally-occurring associative symbiotic bacterial genus that enhances cereal roots development and performance, therefore enhancing crop performance. AZODURE is a multidisciplinary and industrial research project that innovates on its three objectives : 1/ industrial agroengineering innovation development with concern for the seed inoculation technology and the legal framework; 2/ gain of knowledge on ecosystemic medium-term (4 years) benefits (for plants, soil natural bacterial communities and soil water retention capacity) as well as crop productivity and economic gain; 3/ interaction with the socio-economic, political and higher education actors for outreach and dissemination of technology implementation. Partners and actors will work jointly on 9 closely-linked tasks. The Isère/Porte-des-Alpes (IPA) territory will serve as framework to develop these tasks mobilizing a range of scientific disciplines (microbial ecology, plant ecophysiology, agronomy and soil science, economy, law) along with a range of stakeholders (a private company, farmer organizations, policy makers, education actors).

The effects of increasing global temperatures on soil biodiversity and the resulting effects on the coupling/decoupling of biogeochemical C, N, P cycles are poorly understood. This project attempt to assess the biodiversity and functional composition of soil microbial communities, including soil fauna (earthworms) and plant-soil interactions responses to soil warming using three whole soil warming experiments established in France, USA and China. We will focus our study on whole soil profiles, as in particular subsoil horizons may have a large temperature response to warming and could release carbon to the atmosphere as positive feedback mechanism. The information obtained through the data generated by our project will be used to benchmark an existing simulation model, which includes representation of soil depth, transport, and microbial physiology of functional guilds. The simulations outcomes can then support the formulation of policies to promote adaptation and mitigation strategy.

Soils, as reservoirs for the green water, are essential in agricultural ecosystem services. Their hydric functioning in water balance model is described by their Available Water Content AWC, i.e. the maximum quantity of water available for plant growth. No consensus exists about neither its definition nor its real value, whereas it is a widely used concept, known by farmers and scientists as well. AWC is estimated on soil by soil scientists, using laboratory measurements, field monitoring, or calculation by pedotransfer functions using soil databases. Ecophysiologists and agronomists estimate AWC from in-situ monitoring of plant development, or inverse modelling of crop models. The RUEdesSOLS project then aims at developing, evaluating, benchmarking and coupling references methods in a synergistic and interdisciplinary scheme, to propose a methodology for the AWC estimation that could be used in a large range of pedoclimatic conditions at plot and territory scales. It also consists in analysing the impact of uncertainty associated to these AWC estimates. To reach these objectives, the RUEdesSOLS consortium gathers scientists from the field of soil science, ecophysiology, agronomy, remote sensing and modelling. It is a mixed consortium with partners involved in basic research (INRA, CNRS, CNES, University of Toulouse) and other involved in applied research (ARVALIS, CETIOM). It is organized in 6 workpackages dedicated to i) the management of the project, the sharing of data and the dissemination [WP1], ii) the comparison and fusion of soil-based and plant-based approaches [WP2], iii) the measurement of soil/plant parameters and the collection of legacy data [WP3], iv) the soil-based estimation of AWC [WP4], v) the plant-based estimation of AWC [WP5], and iv) the impact analysis of the AWC estimations on two applied study-cases in relation with the estimation of ecosystem services, say the sunflower yield and the maize irrigation. The transfer of the RUEdesSOLS project toward end-users is assured by the three UMTs (Unité Mixte Technologique) CAPTE, EAU and TOURNESOL, whose assignment is to transfer scientific results from basic research into applied contexts, and by the RMT (Réseau Mixte Technologique) Sols & Territoires, that intends to increase and enhance soil knowledge, from the farm scale to rural territories.