Formation of the Institute of Applied Plant Nutrition (IAPN)
Prof. Dr. Andreas Gransee K+S KALI GmbH Slide 2 2 Content
Challenges in Plant Nutrition Specific research needs Motivation of
K + S KALI GmbH for founding the IAPN Motivation of
Georg-August-Universitt Gttingen for founding the IAPN Organisation
of the IAPN Staff of the IAPN Financing of the IAPN Slide 3 3
Challenges in Plant Nutrition Rising world population leads to
increased demand for food and meat Increased use of land due to the
use of renewable resources Climate change results in the limitation
of resources like water and soil Exhaustion of fossil energy
sources 2050 Slide 4 4 Specific research needs Options to increase
the nutrient use efficiency Nutrients/fertilization and quality of
crops Relationship between nutrients/fertilization and human health
Nutrients and stress tolerance of plants under changing climatic
conditions Nutrients/fertilization and disease tolerance of plants
Relationship between fertilization and water-use efficiency of the
soil/plant system Improvements of fertilizer recommendations Goal:
Intelligent Fertilizer Management under changing conditions Slide 5
5 Motivation of K + S KALI GmbH for founding the IAPN Strengthening
the basic and application- oriented research in plant nutrition,
especially of potassium, magnesium and sulfur Combining and
integrating international research activities Promotion of
knowledge transfer into practice Dialogue with farmers helps to
identify areas for future research Slide 6 6 Motivation of
Georg-August- Universitt Gttingen for founding the IAPN
Public-private partnership allows the expansion of activities in
the field of plant nutrition The An-institute strengthens the
competence and attractiveness of the University of Gttingen The
focus on implementation orientation in research and on issues of
international concern covers new fields of interest in the
Department of Crop Sciences Slide 7 7 Organisation of the IAPN K+S
KALI GmbH K+S An-Institutsverwaltungs GmbH Slide 8 8 Staff of the
IAPN Holder of the Chair of plant nutrition at the Department of
Crop Sciences supervises the IAPN scientifically (20 % of working
hours) 1. Assistant Professor (W1) 2. Ph. D. student 3. Technical
assistant Slide 9 9 Financing of the IAPN K+S KALI GmbH finances
the K+S An- Institutsverwaltungs GmbH. K+S An-Institutsverwaltungs
GmbH finances: 1.3 staff members 2.Start-up financing 3.Additional
funds for individual projects University of Gttingen finances:
1.Premises 2.Running expenses (Electricity, heating etc.) Slide 10
10 The worldwide agricultural advisory service of K+S KALI GmbH One
agronomist Two agronomists More than 2 agronomists Slide 11 11
Challenge: From the lab to the field Last Mile Knowledge transfer
Slide 12 12 Functions of the IAPN Dialogue between research and
practice ResearchPractice Identification of promising fields of
research Development of new research topics Implementation in
specific research projects Implementation in practice (Going
on-farm) Slide 13 13 Creation of national and international
networks Science Agricultural extension service Farms Networking
with stakeholders and organizations Pooling knowledge, Achieving
synergies Slide 14 14 Challenges in Plant Nutrition Increasing
world populationRising meat consumptionIncreasing land
useIncreasing use of bioenergy Increasing need for efficiency
improvement in plant production Climate extremes due to climate
change Research needs The authority in plant nutrition Slide 15 15
Challenge: Intelligent fertilizer management N P K Mg Zn B Cu S
Climate change is considered as the main reason for longer and more
extreme dry periods worldwide. How can plants learn to use water
more efficiently in dry periods?
