Healthy nutrition for children

Learning to eat healthily is not always easy. However, eating behaviour can more easily be directed at an early age. It is important that the social and physical living environment contribute to learning healthy eating patterns. Nurseries and primary schools are important settings that could play a key role in learning healthy eating patterns. In addition, the neighbourhood where children live could encourage learning healthy eating patterns. 

Biorhythms and nutrition for vitality

The research on the importance of the timing of eating on nutrition and health is called chrono nutrition (chronos originates from the Old Greek word for time). Irregular eating is a possible modifiable risk factor for many chronic non-communicable diseases. We have shown that people with an irregular intake pattern had a lower calorie intake but a higher risk of having overweight/obesity and the metabolic syndrome compared with people with a regular intake pattern. This suggest that a calorie at one moment in time may not always have the same effect compared with another moment in time.

Proteins of Twente's soils

This project involves six livestock farms for which a farm analysis has been performed and, based on this analysis, small practical trials are being carried out in cooperation with the respective farmers. These trials have various themes, such as maintaining the organic matter content of the soil, use of soil moisture sensors, incorporation of alternative roughage crops (e.g. broad beans, herbaceous grassland) or summer indoor feeding to reduce grassland losses.

The project is subdivided into three parts:

Deltadrip

Combating salinization of scarce freshwater

In the coastal area, the deeper groundwater is saline, which means that there is a risk of salinization of the scarce fresh groundwater when there is a lot of groundwater abstraction. Groundwater is extracted for irrigation during dry periods, which become more frequent and more intense due to climate change.

Nature-inclusive agriculture Oldambt

Development and integration of a mixed crop in the cropping plan, with a focus on grass-clover as a possible soil-building, biodiversity-stimulating, and black-grass-suppressing measure

Farmers in the Oldambt have a lot of trouble with black-grass and other weeds. Grass clover can be a solution to the black-grass problem. A perennial, ground cover crop such as grass clover (and possibly other crops as well) can have an important and weed-suppressing role.

Nitrogen and carbon cycles

Nitrogen Instrument NDICEA

The computer program NDICEA has been developed for practical use by the Louis Bolk Institute to readily map the nitrogen and organic matter fluxes for arable and horticultural companies. Nitrogen determines to a large extent the potential yield. NDICEA calculates both the nitrogen requirement per crop, and the amount of nitrogen released and washed out from the soil as a result of the decomposition of organic matter in the soil.

Soil and Biodiversity

Soil life

Soil is the largest source of biodiversity on Earth. Many thousands of different species of organisms live in a small handful of soil. We can see the large soil organisms, for example worms, beetles, or woodlice. However, the vast majority of soil life is microscopic, yet fulfils an enormously important role in the soil. It ensures that crop residues are digested and nutrients are made available to plants again. In addition, the soil life ensures a crumbly, airy soil structure.

Manure as an opportunity

Three main strategies were compared: (i) fertilisation mainly aimed at feeding the plants, such as through artificial fertilisers and slurry; (ii) fertilisation mainly aimed at feeding the soil, such as with various composts and (iii) fertilisation aimed at feeding both the plant and the soil: poultry manure, a combination of compost & slurry, and deep stable manure.

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