Research

The cultivated area on caraway in Finland is now higher than that of potatoes and broad beans and has proven to be one of the most profitable crops. Its seeds are rich on carvone and limonene, two volatile compounds of great importance for the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The main purpose of the project is to improve and guarantee high seed oil quality, while improving sustainability of the cropping system. Our research seeks to identify key environmental factors, companion crops and micronutrients, and to select best cultivation areas and management practices.

This work is carried out partly in collaboration with Trans Farm.

Osmolytes are accumulated in plants as a response to for example environmental stresses. The role of osmolytes in plants has been studied extensively, yet there remain plenty of gaps in the knowledge regarding for example the mode of action. We investigate physiological and biochemical responses in leafy vegetables to root-applied osmolytes. The aim is to develop a new production strategy applying osmolytes in fertigation solutions to improve the commercial quality of leafy vegetables and utilize novel imaging technology for quality control. This research project is conducted together with the Deparment of Food and Nutrition, Dr. Minnamari Edelmann, and Luke, Dr. Alexey Shapiguzov.

Forage maize has been grown in Finland for several decades, even though its cultivation area was very limited for long. During the past few years, interest in forage maize has increased among farmers. However, the Finnish climate sets several different challenges for forage maize production as well as its quality. One of the challenges is related to the dry matter content of the harvested crop which affects the preservability of the yield.

We aim to develop forage maize production together with animal scientists through means of pre- and post-harvest crop management. We also investigate the environmental impact of forage maize production in Finland.

Website in Finnish: Tulevaisuuden kestävät karkearehuvalinnat projekti website.

Crop diversity is the cornerstone of food security, enabling continuous adaptation to climate change while providing systemic resilience against abiotic and biotic disturbances. Mixed cropping can alleviate current and future concerns in plant production by elevating soil quality, and potentially reducing the occurrence of pest and pathogen infestations as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

Diversilience is a Core Organic funded project in which research is conducted in several European countries, the leader being NMBU in Norway. LuoVaMix is Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry funded “Nappaa hiilestä kiinni” project led by the Finnish Organic Research Institute. The objective of these projects is to study the effects and interactions of multi-species crop mixtures to enhance the resilience and sustainability of organic farming and aim toward increased carbon sequestration. The project aims to formulate region-specific intercrop combinations with high agronomic value and benefits to local biodiversity in collaboration with farmers.

Read more from Diversilience project's website

Sweet potato is very healthy vegetable with numerous uses. In western countries mainly the roots are used, but the leaves are also delicious. In Finland, sweet potato has mainly been an interest of home gardeners, yet it could be a good addition among the limited options of crops grown in the field. It does not require high inputs, so it should fit nicely also into organic production. We investigate sweet potato cultivation methods, cultivar differences, and the nutritive traits of sweet potato leaves and storage roots together with Dr. Minnamari Edelmann. We use cultivars differing in their color of storage root skin and flesh (rose, yellow, white, orange and purple).