Projects
Agrivoltaics: optimizing the synergy of crop production and solar panels KU Leuven
Sustainable crop production and the continued profitability of agriculture in Europe are increasingly perceived as two opposing goals. The desire to continue traditional farming while reducing chemical inputs and fossil energy consumption brings with it many challenges. Also, the changing climate challenges agriculture in many new ways: jeopardizing harvests, pressuring growers to adopt new management practices or changing cropping systems ...
Mechanistic modelling of root water uptake in saline soils. KU Leuven
Producing enough food for an increasing world population is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Improving management practices that optimize the usage of water, nutrients and other agricultural resources is vital to increase crop production and productivity while maintaining a healthy environment. The usage of computational models has been integrated in the decision making of agricultural management practices such as in ...
Modeling stomatal oscillation of fruit trees using thermal and shortwave infrared wavelengths KU Leuven
This dissertation is intended to develop a bioengineering systems approach in modeling “Conference” pear trees (Pyrus communis L.) responses to plant water deficit. Plant water deficit begins when a crop’s demand exceeds water supply. When plants enter a state of water deficit due to partial soil drying and/or high atmospheric demand, the hormone abscisic acid is produced in the root and translocated to the shoot reducing water and ...
Evaluation of irrigation on the water balance of the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia Ghent University
To increase the productivity of agricultural crops, irrigation is of major importance in the Lake Tana basin. Consequently, this practice gains interest. However, the water use for irrigation has an important impact on the water balance of the basin. In this research, the impact of the irrigation on the water availability in the Lake Tana basis is assessed through modelling.
Hydropedology and the food-water-energy nexus in a changing climate KU Leuven
Identification of long-term carbon sequestration in historically charcoal-enriched soils KU Leuven
Charcoal is the solid product obtained by heating biomass in oxygen limiting conditions. It consists mainly of aromatic carbon (C) that is highly resistant against biodegradation, its estimated residence time in soil is at least several centuries. Charcoal has, therefore, been proposed as a soil amendment (then referred to as ‘biochar’) for enhanced soil C sequestration. In addition, it has been proposed that biochar can indirectly enhance ...
Mining the Musa biodiversity for drought tolerance: allele discovery via integrated phenomics, proteomics and transcriptomics KU Leuven
Banana (Musa spp.) is one of the most produced fruits in the world, the production exceeded 122 million tons in 2013. For optimal production the crop requires: 1200–2690 mm water/year, depending on the agro-ecological zone. The limited genetic diversity in commercial plantations renders the crop extremely vulnerable for (a)biotic stress, like drought. However, worldwide a huge (uncharacterized) biodiversity is available, and we ...
The regulation of photosynthesis by ethylene in tomato KU Leuven
Ethylene is a volatile plant hormone that plays a regulatory role in many aspects of vegetative plant growth and development, including the regulation of photosynthesis. It is also regarded as an 'aging' hormone, as it is required for processes such as climacteric fruit ripening, leaf and flower senescence, and abscission. In addition, ethylene is also involved in regulating plant responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses.
It ...