Where can CDI be implemented?

Controlled Drainage technique is being used a lot in United States, Canada and in Finland, however for somewhat different purposes. In the US the focus is on the problem with nitrate in soil and in groundwater while Baltic region is more focused on making conditions in the Baltic Sea better. The yearly increasing algal blooming is one evidence noticed by the public that something is going very wrong in the Baltic Sea. CDI is one of the solutions that can help to solve problems described above. In Sweden there are a few farms that have implemented Controlled Drainage besides Ragnabo Farm in order to deal with the problem. However the CDI implementation pace needs to be speeded up in Sweden and other countries because the Baltic Sea is coming closer to a biological collapse, which would be a nightmare for many people. For the last 50-60 years we have accumulated nutrients into this sea so that the ecosystem has entered a stable but very unpleasant condition. Due to the stability and 'inertia' it will take large energy, effort and time to tip the sea back to its original stable and healthy condition. It will not get there by its own, unfortunately it is too late for that.


Interdisciplinary work:

It will require interdisciplinary knowledge and work across borders of farming, land and water science, oceanography, marine biology, eco system and fishing but also a political will among countries to reach goal. It takes a holistic view to see what has to be done. Since the Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea it is very vulnerable to excessive nutrients that are fed into the sea. The work will involve both scientists as well as practitioners.


Farming Goals:

For the countries in the Baltic region it is important to find more sustainable farming and land/water management practices to keep the Baltic Sea as healthy as possible and the same time be able to feed 90 millions of people in the region. Many different practices must of course collaborate to reach this goal. Good drainage systems on arable land are crucial as it both reduces leaching and improves crop yield and efficiency.


Drainage Infrastructure Information:

Generally speaking we are in technical debt to coming generations as we have neglected maintenance of drainage systems in the recent decades. Today we simply do not keep up the with necessary reconditioning work with the yearly degradation of the systems. In a long-term perspective this will increase nutrients outflow from arable land. Another issue is lack of maps and map information. These maps are often lost between farm owners or between leasehold farmers. In Sweden there is no central organization that has the responsibility to store and maintain drainage maps and related info such as the so called 'underground layer'.


CDI as three-layered function:
CDI carries 3 functions: Control, Drainage, and Irrigation. When a farmer implements CDI he goes from 1 degree of freedom to 3 degrees of freedom. The second degree is to adjust drain level and third degree is control the irrigation. This opens up new action possibilities for the farmer in adjusting draining and irrigation because of weather conditions on a daily, weekly or seasonally basis. These new actions are the keys to counteract nitrogen leaching and also reduce effect on upcoming climate changes.

Environmental journey:
From a Ragnabo Farm perspective the environmental journey started in 2004 with the 2 year project Ragnabo Dämme (Ragnabo Dam). A modification to the existing drainage system was made and the effective CDI area became about 5-6 ha. The project continued in the following years reported in (as pdf): Environmental Project on Ragnabo Farm. The CDI area is today about 24 ha (60% of arable land) and 18 drainage and irrigation controllers are implemented in a semi-automatic distributed network.