European Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP) is a partner in a new project called ‘The Framework for Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency’ (FINE) which aims to make the application of nitrogen as efficient as possible by equipping farmers with management systems and in-field analytics to provide advice on the most optimal application of nitrogen.

The platform will lead to significant improvements in nitrogen and nutrient management and provide the opportunity to secure secondary income streams for farms, facilitate farm integration into environmental land management schemes and enhance food security by reducing dependency on nitrogen input costs.

EFFP’s role in the project is support the development of new income opportunities for farmers whilst also engaging with and supporting food businesses to better understand how they can reduce their scope 3 emissions within the supply chain for the benefits of themselves and their supplying farmers alike.

Nitrogen use efficiency is a way of understanding the relationships between the total nitrogen input compared to the nitrogen output and how this is translated to grain yield and quality. It is an important trait in crop breeding programs, which aims to improve crop yield while reducing input costs, such as fertilisers, and at the same time keeping nitrogen out of the environment. Reducing fertiliser inputs would lead to fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less nitrate leaching into the groundwater and surface water.

The NUE-Profits project, funded by Innovate UK, is a partnership led by AgAnalyst, with partners Agreed Earth, Assimila, Dales Land Net, European Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP), Hill Court Farm Research, Navigate Eco Solutions, N Blacker & Sons, University of Lincoln and Velcourt.

For more information, please get in touch: drawson@effp.com