EUROSTAT UNIT:E.1
THEME:4.07 – Agri-environmental statistics
TITLE:Pilot studies on estimating non-agricultural use of pesticides and on estimating the content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in agricultural products
SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION
Title of the specific action(s) proposed for a grant
(Please tick the boxes below as appropriate) / Yes / No
Action 2: Pilot studies on estimating the content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in agricultural products / /
Identity of the applicant:
(official name in full) / Istituto Nazionale di Economia Agraria (INEA)
Overall maximum duration of the action(s) requesting a grant (in months): / 48
1.1 IDENTITY OF THE APPLICANT
Official name in full: / Istituto Nazionale di Economia Agraria
Acronym: (if applicable) / INEA
Official legal form: Public entity[1] / Public entity…
1.2 CONTACT DETAILS
Street address: / Via Nomentana, 41
Postcode: / 00187
Town/City: / Roma
Region (if applicable): / …
Country: / ITALY
Telephone: / +39 06478561
Fax: / +39 0647856201
E-mail address: /
1.3 CONTACT PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTION(S)
Action 2: Pilot studies on estimating the content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in agricultural products
(if applicable)
Family name: / Altobelli
First Name: / Filiberto
Position/Function[2]: / Researcher
Telephone: / +39 06 47856 568
Fax: / +39 06 47856 299
E-mail address: /
3 SELECTION CRITERIA: APPLICANT'S OPERATIONAL CAPACITY TO COMPLETE THE PROPOSED ACTION
The Italian Institute of Agricultural Economics [Istituto Nazionale di Economia Agraria (INEA)], is a public research body placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Institute was founded by Royal Decree n. 1418 on 10 May 1928, with an independent status and management, in order to carry out research and surveys in the field of agricultural and forestry economics, with special reference to agricultural legislation, rural administration, farmers’ and workers’ organisations. Over the years INEA has adapted its activities to the requirements of the Italian agri-industrial system. It was confirmed as a research body by Law 70/75. Since 1965, with the Presidential Decree 1708/65, it was chosen as the official link between the ItalianState and the European Union for the implementation of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). It was included among the organisations which make up the National Statistics System (SISTAN) by Ministerial Decree on 31 March 1990.
INEA is organised in 5 units:
- Micro-economic analysis and Farm Accounting;
- Research and economic analysis;
- Macro-economic and market analysis;
- Information services;
- Administration.
The head office is in Rome but the Institute is represented in all over Italy with a network of 18 Agricultural Accountancy Offices, whose main responsibility is to collect and manage FADN data, and 16 Agricultural Economics Observatories, which carry out analytical studies on Regional socio-economic sectors as well as contributing to head office research and studies. The library of the Institute houses a collection of more than 27.000 volumes and 600 Italian and foreign scientific journals. The number of publications kept in the library is increasing at a rate of 1500 per year. The library is divided in six sections: economics and agricultural policy, agricultural science, general economics, statistics, other sciences, series. Internet Home Page ( contains information on main activities and projects managed by INEA. The site is updated weekly to take account of the evolution of the activities carried out and of the projects managed by INEA.
INEA carries out researches, surveys, analyses and forecasts of structural and socio-economic nature in the agro-industrial, forestry and fishing sectors. In the last few years, the Institute has increased its activities in support of the State as regards the implementation of agricultural policies, especially the ones formulated by the European Union. INEA provides technical assistance, and monitors and assesses structural policies (EAGGF, Leader and Regulation 2078 programmes etc) and market policies (common market organisations) for European Commission services, for the Ministry of Agriculture and for numerous Italian Regional Authorities. In 1997, INEA has created, upon request of the Italian Ministry for Agricultural Policies, the “Observatory on agricultural policies of the EU, with the main aim to follow and analyse closely the developments of the Common Agricultural Policy and of the international agricultural agreements of the EU. INEA is also involved in activities regarding rural development and environmental resources monitoring and enhancement.
INEA is one of the public administrations in Italy that deals with the different aspects of irrigation. It has developed and is managing (among other projects) the SIGRIA (Information System on Water Resources Management in Agriculture), which is part of the Operative Programme "Water Resources" (see P.O. Risorse idriche in in the Objective 1 Italian Regions" - Reg (CEE) n. 2081/93 - QCS 1994/99 –2001/06). One of the aim of the Operative Programme is to create an integrated decision support system, based on GIS technology, for the decision makers and irrigation water managers, to evaluate the volumes of water needs in the different irrigated areas, as base of simulation models of water management and emergency (in relation with the other water use: urban, tourist, industrial and environmental), and to optimise water use. Inside SIGRIA, the use of remote sensing (with aerial and satellite) has allowed to realise land use/cover and other thematic maps related to irrigated agriculture. The results of the project have been used to determine the areas with risk of desertification in Southern Italy.
Action 2: Pilot studies on estimating the content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in agricultural products
(Please tick the boxes below as appropriate in order to indicate that the requested document or information is attached and complete the current application form)
Curriculum vitae of the key person(s) - project manager(s) – coordinating the action 2 /
Please provide a brief description of his/her relevant competences and previous experiences in the context of the action: / Agronomist – Environmental Researcher.
Researcher at INEA from 2005. Field of research: water management, crop water requirement and crop nutrient. Soil quality. System to support decision making in agriculture. Economic analysis in environment and agriculture.
Please provide a justification on subcontracting, if any: / The project will be carried out in cooperation with the The Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences (DiPSA) of the University of Florence is an important academic center of research and education concentrating on environmental and productive aspects of agricultural cultivation systems. The research activities focus on agronomic practices, soil conservation (soil erosion, salinisation and pollution), crop management, environmental monitoring and ecophysiology and have been performed in the framework of international and national projects funded by public (EU, Ministry of Research, Local Administrations, etc) and private organizations (farms, cooperative of producers, etc.). The Department also has wide experience participating in projects funded by international institutions (EU, FAO, WMO, etc.). It is experienced in modeling applications to investigate crop responses to agronomic inputs, management options and environmental conditions, including climate change and variability impacts, and has published a number of papers on this subject. In particular, researches aim to evaluate the adaptability of crops to different pedological and climatic local conditions and to the future scenarios of climate change. These studies have been often coupled with GIS (Geographical Information System) and the application of interpolation technique in order to perform territorial analysis and produce thematic maps. Moreover, with the aim of developing sustainable cropping systems, the DiPSA works on experimental tests of alternative cultivation practices of fertilization, irrigation, tillage etc., and on the evaluation of the energetic and environmental balances related to low input cultivation systems
1.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION 2 (if applicable)
Title: Pilot studies on estimating the content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in agricultural products
a) Describe the general and specific objectives that the action aims at achieving:
The project will be focussed on the development of a methodology for the estimation of N and P contents in the main crop products (by distinguishing between the main product, the by-product and the crop residual) in Italy. The methodology will take into account the dependency of crop nutrient contents on the climate (temperature and rainfall), N and P inputs (organic and mineral fertilization) and main agricultural practices.
The main objective is therefore the identification of the best practice methodologies and technical solutions for calculating the N and P contents, based on available data, of harvested crop production as available from the Eurostat crop production statistics at national level, as well as regional level where relevant (i.e. where regional coefficientsare likely to significantly differ from national estimates).
The methodology will be developed by discussing and comparing actual experiences of nutrient crop content coefficient setting at national and regional level in other studies with particular attention to the harmonization at an international level by collaborating with other European countries directly involved into the project or in similar studies.
The developed methodology will be tested for the main crop products and by-products produced in Italy. As a result, the crop nutrient content coefficients will be produced at national level and/or at regional level if the data will show a strong geographical variation.
To achieve this important goal, some specific objectives are foreseen. In particular:
To make an inventory of existing data and methodologies;
To collect and analyze available data about fertilization practices (organic, mineral , manure)
To collect and analyze data and coefficients on nitrogen biological fixation and atmospheric deposition;
To assess the relationships existing between climatic characteristics and the movement and partitioning of P and N nutrients into the crop parts;
To use the collected data and metadata for the setup of an organized database for storing the data necessary to nutrient coefficient calculation. The database will be flexible enough to be updated with new data and to serve for different methodologies of calculation;
To identify the more reliable source of data needed (national statistic institutes, laboratories for food quality control and analysis, consortia of farmers, extension services, etc.) for the calculation of crop nutrient contents;
To calculate crop nutrient content coefficients;
To ensure the quality of the methodology by developing and implementing validation procedure, e.g. peer-review involving the other beneficiaries, requesting external expertise, etc.
To assess the sustainability of the methodology through the identifications of the methods for updating the used data;
b) Describe the action (on the basis of the main activities foreseen) and where it will be implemented
The nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) content of agricultural products is strictly dependent on the crop nutrient removal that is commonly estimated from measured yields and published nutrients concentrations. Nutrient removal rates are available in literature for most crops but their values, for the same crop, could highly vary. As a consequence, in many cases estimated crop nutrient content coefficients are inaccurate or even missing. This depends on many factors. First of all, estimations are generally averages based on outdated literature that do not consider the specific conditions under which crops are cultivated. Even if for most crops the nutrient contents are considered relatively stable and do not require particular updating, for intensive agriculture systems nutrient contents can vary widely not only in time between years but also in space among different regions. Such variations are due both to the management system (rate of N and P fertilizations) and to environmental factors. In particular, the soil type and climate (temperature and precipitations) have an effect on nutrient cycles, on crop productivity and on crop nutrient requirement with consequent variations in nutrient removal.
Another source of inaccuracy in the estimation of crop nutrient content coefficient is the use of inhomogeneous products and units (i.e. grain or whole plant, fresh weight or dry matter, crop variety). Finally, published values often refer to the whole plant or its main product while important is also the content of nutrients in by-products removed from the field.
On these bases, the proposed methodology will developed in the following actions:
1- Identification and verification of information sources
This represents a critical point for the development of the methodology. In fact, during this action the survey and inventory of the following up to date data and data sources will be made:
- published data and methodologies used in EU and abroad (i.e. US, Canada) for estimating nutrient crop removals and/or contents will be made.
- experimental data coming from field experiments and on-going research projects at European level
- data concerning the partitioning of nutrients in the different parts of the crop considered (main product and by-product)
- survey of data available in Eurostat statistics
Data will be collected and analyzed in order to identify the most suitable for the estimation of crop nutrient contents. Such data and information will be also crossed and compared with those available at an international level. For that, the participation of and the collaboration with different countries has been envisaged.
2- Identification of main variables influencing the nutrient content of crop products
During this Action, also on the base of Action 1 results, the role of the main variables in determining the nutrient content of products will be evaluated and established. In particular, the analysis will take into consideration:
- cultivated crop
- agricultural production system, particularly in relation to the use of mineral or organic fertilizers
- farm management practices (organic farming, intensive production, irrigation, etc.)
- soil type
- climate, particularly referred to precipitation and temperature.
The analysis of the effect of climate represents a crucial point and on the bases of the results obtained, the study area (Italy) will be classified into 2-3 homogeneous areas. The analysis will be carried on through the application of empirical and semi-empirical model (e.g. multiregressive model) in order to understand and quantify the role of each single variable analyzed. In this way, the selection of the driven variables will be made and their effect on the final crop nutrient contents will be established.
3 – Database set up
Action 3 will deliver an updated and structured database containing the the different data that will serve for the computation of the nutrient contents of crop product and the description of data, included metadata. In particular the following activities are foreseen:
- harmonization of measuring units involved in the estimation procedures (e.g. volumes, weights, extensions)
- harmonization of reference products involved in the estimation procedures (e.g. dry or fresh weight, grain)
- design of the relational database structure
- set up of the relational database
4 - Model development
Action 4 represents the synthesis of the previous Actions. The aim is to develop a model which formalize the methodology for the estimation of coefficients of the nutrient content of considered products and by-products. The model will be based on the methodology found and shared at international level. In particular, the Action include the following activities:
- final development of the model for determining nutrient content of crop products on the bases of considered factors
- development of a simple model for determining nutrient content of by-products on the bases of considered factors
- calibration of the methodology through application to specific case studies coming from scientific literature
5- Assessment of the quality and the sustainability of the methodology
The developed methodology will be tested and its quality will be proved at an international scientific level. Moreover, the assessment of feasibility and sustainability of the coefficient update procedure will be carried on.
In particular, the following tasks are foreseen:
- calibration of the methodology on the base of a dataset of available data
- validation of the methodology on the base of an independent dataset
- test of the methodologies for the estimation of nutrient content coefficients of the main crop products and by-products cultivated in Italy
- identification of methods for the update of coefficients (i.e. use of thresholds, regular check of scientific literature production, regular update of variables and parameters used, regular validation)
- publication on international peer-review scientific journals
- production of specific reports and documents/manuals to be shared with national and international experts
- participation/organizations of meetings and workshops dedicated to the scientific community as well as participation/organizations dedicated open days for the dissemination of methodologies, results and potential benefits
6- Design of a prototypal system
The model developed will be implemented in a WEB based system or as a stand-alone software in order to facilitate and allow the use and the application of the methodology to the end users and interested/involved stakeholders. The system implemented will be easily exportable to other countries due to the shared methodology on which it will be based on. The specific activities of the Action are the following:
- identification and selection of the most suitable mean for the system implementation (e.g. web, software)
- design of the system architecture (e.g. data format, query system)
- design of the Graphic User Interface (GUI)
c) Organisation of the project management:
INEA will cooperate for the development of the activities 1 and 2 with the Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences (DiPSA) of the University of Florence due to its experience in modelling applications to investigate crop responses to agronomic inputs, management options and environmental conditions, including climate change and variability impacts, and has published a number of papers on this subject. The Department carries also out researches to evaluate the adaptability of crops to different soil and climatic local conditions and to the future scenarios of climate change.
The 6 actions will be organized following the timetable reported below.
INEA will coordinate the action and will put in plase several instruments to monitor and control possible risks during the implementation. Concerning the activities subcontracte possible risks will be minimized trough specific provision to be laid down in the agreement between INEA and the identified subcontracted.
d) Arrangements for monitoring/supervision during the operation and foreseen risks about the implementation:
The main cornerstones of the proposal risk management policy are:
• Mechanisms to identify, to report and response to risks have been established
• Payment on performance
• Prioritisation of risks
• Sharing of information at the earliest opportunity so that small issues do not escalate
• Risk management will be continuously updated and improved
2 PLANNED DURATION OF THE ACTION(S) (in months):
(Please note that the overall duration of the action(s) should be in accordance to the information provided above in the part "summary of the application". Please fill in the tables below for the action(s) relevant to the current application)
Action(s) / Planned starting date: / Duration of the action(s) (in months):
Action 2. Pilot studies on estimating the content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in agricultural products / 01/11/2011 / 18
Action 2. Pilot studies on estimating the content of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in agricultural products
Milestones/ Deliverables (Action 2) / Timetable (month-year) (Action 2)
State of the art of existing methodologies and data used for the estimation of crop nutrient content in Italy, Europe and abroad / M0+1
Repository of data about existing methodologies for the estimation of crop nutrient content / M0+2
Repository of data about existing data and identification of data sources of crop nutrient content coefficients / M0+3
List and description of variables and parameters affecting the nutrient contents / M0+6
Interim report (IR) – a full description of the project status with an analysis of the possible issues encountered and the strategies to be adopted for the completion of the foreseen activities. / M0+9
Database of data necessary for the estimation procedure / M0+11
Model development and validation / M0+14
Prototype design / M0+17
Final Report (FR) / M0+18
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