On 5 July 2019 the trials of the DOMINO project were visited by prof. Ken Albrecht from the Department of Agronomy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) and prof. Jadwiga Andrzejewska from the Department of Agriculture and Biotechnology of the University of Science and Technology (Bydgoszcz, Poland).
Both of them have been involved in the selection of the leguminous species put on trial as nitrogen-fixing plants to support the apple trees nutrition and to improve the inter-row management of the orchard. Indeed, seeds of the kura clover (Trifolium ambiguum) and the specific rhizobium inoculum used for the trial were kindly donated by Prof. Albrecht. Prof. Andrzejewska supported the use of Galega orientalis in our trial also helping in obtaining the specific N-fixing bacterial inoculum, having had previously very positive results with this crop for feed production. The discussion during the visit allowed to point out some suggestions to improve the growth of the two species which has suffered by the unusual dry season recorded in Poland this year. The visit allowed to further strengthen the collaboration of project with the two colleagues in a way that is following the DOMINO approach: from biodiversity to consumer satisfaction.
The representative of the company Lallemand Plant Care (France), Matthieu Morel, was hosted by the Institute on July 10 and during the visit to the experimental fields he was also introduced to the DOMINO trials. During the visit, he was explained the concept and main assumptions of the project, especially the multiple cropping or usage of inocula and other plant-derived products used to enhance the nutrients availability in apple orchards.
