The following is a list of ideas that would suit a student project in terms of project size, and would somewhat stand alone. Most of these are an attempt to get students involved in ongoing projects. If you’d like to come up with your own project, check the list of current projects, or the Hushållningssällskapets R&D focus areas.
| TITLE | DESCRIPTION |
| Digital monitoring of foliar diseases in {faba beans, apple trees, viticulture, insert Skånsk crop here} | Focusing on a single crop within the project idea I024. This will use the BioScout technology to monitor spores of major foliar diseases in the particular crop, and compare these results to observations of the occurance of the disease. Weather will be an important component. |
| Assessing digital technology for {insert decision here}. | Focusing on a single technology within the project idea I025. As an exjobb, this might also include aspects of digitalisation such as connectivity (eg testing coverage of LoRa vs NB-IoT vs …), or data management (eg different cloud based database systems), or sensors (eg for soil moisture), or field system (eg for ease of use). |
| A digital transformation | Focus on a single decision within the project idea I026. The idea is to document the process of the implementation of a new digital technology on a farm. This will be a case study, documenting the gains and issues associated with adding a new digital system into the decision making process. |
| A Digital Twin layer | Focus on a single decision within the project idea I027. The idea is to develop the HS digital twin platform to include a new metric. For example, the addition of a module for a particular foliar disease. This involves finding an agronomic issue that has a suitable model for how it will develop over the season, and that has use of in-field sensors for providing real-time data that updates the model. |
My old employer, NBR, is always open to student work too. Here are some ideas I had up previously that are focused on the sugar beet industry. If any of these grab you, get in touch or
| TITLE | DESCRIPTION |
| Temporary clamp insulation: lab tests | Testing out alternative materials as sugar beet clamp insultation. Current materials that are used as insulation is basically limited to just straw. The current list of alternatives is similarly short, but could be expanded prior to testing. This current list of alternatives is: foam frost protection used in vineyards. Lab testing would likely include a little bit of creative construction, re-purposing the equipment used in a previous study. |
| Is it worth resowing? | Developing a simple model that takes growth estimates for given sowing times and establishment rates, and runs a Bayesian MCMC analysis on the likely outcomes. |
| Soil biology x aggregate stability & penetration resistance | Heinz-Josef Koch (IfZ) presented the idea at IIRB2022 that these factors are very good predictors of in-field variation in yields – how do we incorporate this into precision ag, and how do we incorporate practices that promote these factors? |
| Developing wind speed measurement in sugar beet clamps | Measure airflow in a sugar beet clamp using one or numerous commercial wind speed monitor/s. |
| Clamps in the landscape | Cold air accumulates in low points in the landscape, meaning minimum temperatures can be very local: how will this affect sugar beet storage and can we map the places to avoid placing clamps? (collab: Kristina Blennow, SLU, Alnarp) |
| Yield gap – genetics | What is the “genetic” difference in sugar beet production potential between the two countries? Was the 1995-96 divergence between SE and DK driven by the acquisition of Hilleshög and Hilleshög genetics by Maribo beet seeds? |
| Yield gap – climate | What is the “natural” difference in sugar beet production potential between the two countries? Growth models, with just soil type, solar radiation, temperature, rainfall. Variety trials and differences observed in market varieties. |
| Yield gap – structural | What is the “structural” difference in sugar beet production potential between the two countries? Field size, farm size, demographics? |
| Yield gap – storage | What is the “storage” difference in sugar beet production potential between the two countries? Length and conditions during this period. |
| Yield gap – legal | What is the “legal” difference in sugar beet production potential between the two countries? Permitted use of fertilisers/ -cides/ etc. |