On the 27th and 28th January, the AFaktive team was active in Belgium, equipping two project agroforestry sites with measuring devices.
One of the sites is an experimentation plot of the project partner Inagro – an institute in Belgium conducting research and advice in agriculture and horticulture. Here, a transect with nine soil moisture sensors was installed. Six of these sensors were placed in the crop field between the tree strips, and three within a tree strip.
The second site is in Ohain, Wallonia, and is accompanied by project partner AWAF, the Association for Agroforestry in Wallonia and in Brussel. Here, the agroforestry area with trees and hedges has been equipped with a transect of seven soil moisture sensors, a rain gauge and two flumes.
The installations have been performed by project partner Royal Eijkelkamp (REK), a company offering solutions for soil and water projects.
Now, only few project sites still need to be equipped. In the meantime, the measurements at the already equipped sites have started. The whole team looks forward to receiving the data and evaluating the effect of agroforestry on the water balance at the chosen sites. This is the basis, on which the planned water erosion model will be developed.
Copyright photos: AWAF and REK