NOcsPS cropping systems are new farming systems that have not been implemented in science and practice so far. There is a lack of data bases which requires system and exact trials.

These are coordinated and supervised by the University Hohenheim and the Julius Kühn-Institute in cooperation with the consortium partners. Finally, the question arises to what extent NOcsPS cropping systems can be practically implemented on farms.

The aim of the experimental stations is to develop and implement a coordinated experimental set-up with the multitude of consortium participants in order to create a basis for comprehensive ecological, economic and sociological analyses of the NOcsPS cropping system. Thus, the experimental stations will generate and provide own data in the areas of yield measurement, soil analyses (basic nutrients, micronutrients, pH, Nmin values) and soil erosion.

In order to be able to analyse the influence of different location factors on a NOcsPS cropping system, the system trials are carried out on two different sites in Germany, in Brandenburg (Dahnsdorf) and Baden-Württemberg (Hohenheim), as far as possible identically.

The practical and technical feasibility of a NOcsPS cropping system by the conversion of a whole experimental operation of the University of Hohenheim, the Meiereihof, will be checked.

With the installation and support of exact trials, individual consortium partners are to be supported in numerous specific experiments.

In the first step, the design of the various experimental set-ups (exact trials, system trials and on-farm experiments) is determined in cooperation with the consortium partners. Both experimental stations (Hohenheim and JKI).

The two experimental stations (UHOH and JKI) are responsible for the installation, implementation and monitoring of the experiments. To ensure a largely identical experimental procedure at the two sites in Hohenheim and Dahnsdorf, the individual cultivation measures are coordinated in close cooperation between the two experimental stations.

The experimental stations remove plot specific soil samples for soil analyzes and Nmin studies. Data on soil erosion, which will play a role in particular on slopes of the Meiereihof, are collected with the aid of a small-scale irrigation system. The plot or field specific yield determination is also carried out by the experimental stations, respectively. Over the entire duration of the project, the experimental stations document the experimental procedure plot specific and make this information centrally available to all consortium partners.

Test results shall be used as practicable solutions for implementing NOcsPS cropping systems on farms.