Replacing chemical fertilizers with microorganisms and bacteria that can promote plant growth even during periods of water stress, improving soil functions and agricultural production. This is the result of the Ortumannu project, in which CRS4 participated together with the University of Cagliari, Mutah University (Jordan) and Enea, which aims to counter soil depletion and to promote high-quality agricultural production by reducing the use of fertilizers, pesticides and water, by means of the integrated use of natural resources, biotechnologies and characterization, monitoring and modeling tools.
Pierluigi Cau, researcher in the Smart Environments and Technologies group explains that "thanks to ICT technologies and the model developed by CRS4 we can understand the critical issues in a plant's growth, which can be nutritional in nature, due to a lack of nutrients or water stress, and then we can understand how to intervene to improve irrigation or fertilization with the use of bio fertilizers and to define sustainable practices."