Enriching the soil using marine plants is a traditional practice in Brittany which has led to sea wrack transforming the coastal land of North Finistère into an agricultural “golden belt”. The AFI laboratory has taken a further step by identifying the bio-stimulant properties of algae which have developed the capacity to withstand difficult environmental conditions.

As part of the AZOSTIMER project, the AFI laboratory, along with its partners, aims to provide an innovative response to the problems posed by nitrogen-based fertilisers. AFI’s goal is to optimise fertiliser effectiveness and to limit the environmental impact of nitrogen-based fertilisers in the form of water pollution from nitrate run-off and gas emissions. From 2010, a European directive will impose a cap on emissions of ammonia, which contributes to soil acidification, and/or of nitrogen protoxide, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Research carried out as part of the AZOSTIMER project will focus on the effect of algae in stimulating the metabolism of plants and their capacity to absorb fertiliser input. Fertilising crops using extracts of brown or green algae could thus prevent gas emissions and increase the proportion of nitrogen actually used by large-scale cultivated crops such as oilseed rape. Alongside perfecting these environmentally friendly fertilisers, AZOSTIMER, in collaboration with the FORCE A Company, will offer decision-making tools for a structured approach to fertiliser use. Through the development of sensors capable of detecting the natural fluorescence in plants, the farmer will be able to apply the correct amount of fertiliser to his crops at the appropriate time in their growth cycle.

AZOSTIMER PROJECT PARTNERS : 

Companies:

• AFI (Roullier Group), Saint Malo, project director: Where its fertilisers are concerned, the “Agri-supply” branch of the group favours the use of marine-sourced raw materials in response to issues of sustainable agriculture. 
•  FORCE-A, Evry: Created out of work by a CNRS-Orsay research team, the company is developing sensors for real-time monitoring of crops based on the fluorescent properties of plants. 
• ANAXIMANDRE, Landerneau: Scientific and technical communications and software engineering agency.

Research centres :

• EVA Laboratory, UMR INRA/University of Caen,
• Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie (Chemistry selective higher education institute) in Rennes and its “Organic and Supramolecular Chemistry” and “Chemistry and Process Engineering” laboratories.

Contact :

• philippe.potin@pole-mer-bretagne.com