Period: 14.6.2022 - 18.3.2024

Content: The Lill-Nägels Agroforestry Pilot Project (1.6 2022- 31.12 2023) is a
multifaceted applied project which includes biological restoration,
successional agroforestry, alley cropping, direct marketing, and public
outreach. It is located in Kirkkonummi, Finland, on approximately 8000 square
meters.

The project is aiming to restore a degraded agricultural field's soil fertility
through adaptive management of a successional agroforestry model with alley
cropping. We are exploring ways to use biological function to accomplish most
of these tasks, aided by regular soil analysis that includes traditional soil
testing practices alongside more recent testing regimes such as Near Infa Red
and soil microbiological assays. We will also incorporate plant sap testing to
help manage the fertility on site.

The system is planned to yield of a succession of different cash crops from the
first full growing season onwards, which is aimed at reducing the amount of
time until the system begins to become profitable. We want to bring customers
who have an interest in directly supporting sustainable farming through the
development of a community supported agriculture model (CSA), which will, among
other things, increase farm profitability by reducing labor costs.

As the system we are establishing uses novel polycultures of species that
include both cash crops and support species (cover crops), we are looking to
see which parts of the system could be mechanized with existing equipment as
well as keeping a close eye on what cannot be mechanized with current tools. We
want to see if there are new models of machines that could be created or
modified from existing implements that would allow for diverse plantings like
the one at Lill-Nägels.

• By the end of 2023 the design and management should demonstrate a positive
change in soil health markers
• Reach a wide international audience of farmers, students and citizens via
Novia's FUI and continuing education activities,
Novia's network and our partners
• Combine the positive and profitable experience from small-scale agricultural
enterprises (gardening, fruit growing) on a larger scale
through mechanization
• Increase the knowledge base within the establishment of agroforestry and
including avenue cultivation in Uusimaa

Focus area: Bioekonomi och hållbart nyttjande av naturresurser

Campus: Raseborg

Financers: Stiftelsen Finlandssvenska Jordfonden, Europeiska jordbruksfonden för landsbygdsutveckling (EJFLU)

Project owner: Novia UAS

Project manager: Joshua Finch

Partners: Lill-Nägels farm, Rikard Korkman

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