PRECIKEM Website

RDI platform: Smart Industry

Language: Swedish

Project description

The importance of the acid sulfate soils as the underlying cause of a serious deterioration in the well-being of water bodies is well known. Climate change is expected to cause more extreme weather conditions, with more intense droughts in summer and more precipitation/runoff in winter, which has the potential to further amplify the negative effects of acid sulfate soils. A combination of a control well to control the groundwater level in a crop field, sub-irrigation to compensate for evaporation during dry summers and PRECIKEM treatment to counteract the acidification inevitable during dry periods, may be a key to successful agriculture in the future climate.

The PRECIKEM treatment, i.e. sub-irrigation with suspensions of ultra-fine-grained limestone and peat, has been developed since 2010 in three different projects. During the years 2010-2014, the development of a new and innovative treatment method was initiated in the PRECIKEM project (Chemical precision treatment of acid sulfate soils to prevent the formation of acid).

Goals

The goal of this project was targeted chemical methods that contribute to the use of the acid sulfate soils by growers in an environmentally sustainable way. In the following project, PRECIKEM II (Chemical precision treatment of acid sulfate soils for water protection in environmentally sustainable agriculture), the goal was a method with environmentally friendly substances that both control the soil’s pH value and oxygen availability. In the ProPRECIKEM project, further steps are taken to bring the PRECIKEM method into practical use. Through technological development in terms of dosing and pumping, as well as an active dissemination of information, the treatment method is made technically and practically available for agriculture.

In 2020, the spread of information has become more difficult. Therefore, a trilingual information platform is now planned in the form of a website where the PRECIKEM projects’ method descriptions and results are published. We target farmers, authorities and researchers, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Results

Acidic sulfate soils are a problem that is specific to the coastal area of ​​Ostrobothnia. The theme has been highlighted in the NTM centre’s regional rural strategy. Within the project, a trilingual information platform is created in the form of a website where the PRECIKEM project’s method descriptions and results are published. The project is aimed at farmers, authorities and researchers, regionally, nationally and internationally.