Agriculture sciences

Food security is the most important task of agriculture. However, the sector is responsible for a large proportion of climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions, which are mainly due to livestock farming. This also leads to the loss of biodiversity through monocultures and fertilization practices. Experts have long called for a rethink on meat consumption. But what would be the impact on agriculture in Germany of cutting out schnitzel, steak and the like? Researchers at the Öko-Institut have investigated this in a study commissioned by Greenpeace.

On land, agriculture urgently needs to become more sustainable for environmental and climate protection; in the water, many marine regions are considered overfished. But humanity's demand for food will continue to rise. One hitherto little-used source that can be both healthy and sustainable is algae, among which are marine grapes. Researchers at the University of Bremen and the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) have now discovered a way to significantly increase their nutritional value.

Weeds are a problem for many farms. In conventional farming, heavy equipment and pesticides are used to try to kill the unwanted plants or keep them in check. In organic farming, no chemicals are used. Here, the weed problem is solved mechanically or thermally. But even this method is not ideal: it is often expensive and can also disturb soil organisms and promote erosion. Researchers at the University of Rostock have now taken a closer look at weed vegetation in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) in a large-scale field trial. Eleven organic farms from MV were involved.

Fruit pits from plums, cherries, peaches or apricots usually end up in the trash. In fruit processing, over 500 million kilos of pits are thrown away every year in Europe alone. For Austrian start-up Kern Tec GmbH, this is a source of raw materials for new foods. The potential of this upcycling idea has also convinced the system service provider BayWa. Through its investment arm, BayWa Venture GmbH, the Munich-based company is now joining the food tech start-up as a partner and investor.

Overfishing of the oceans is a global problem. According to the environmental protection organization WWF, 33% of commercial fish stocks are affected. In Europe, the situation is even more dramatic: In the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as much as 62.2% of stocks are considered overfished. Meanwhile, however, demand for fish continues to rise. Food tech startup Bluu Seafood wants to rebalance overfished seas with alternatives made from cultured fish cells.

Medicine has always relied on the healing powers of nature. Plant-based active ingredients are therefore a sought-after raw material for both the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. However, their extraction from medicinal plants such as thyme and chamomile is subject to natural fluctuations, so that the active ingredient content varies. In addition, climate change and barren soils further reduce the concentrations of the ingredients, thus lowering the quality of conventionally extracted essential oil.

At 38%, the construction industry is responsible for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions. As the demand for housing increases, sustainable building materials are urgently needed to avoid further burdening the environment and climate. Researchers at the University of Göttingen have found an ecological alternative for dry construction with a new process that can be used to manufacture numerous products from hemp, flax and popcorn granules.

Palm oil is one of the most versatile and sought-after vegetable oils: it is found in many foods such as ice cream, chocolate and potato chips, and is also used in the production of cosmetics and biodiesel. Yet palm oil cultivation in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia has economic, social and also environmental consequences, and has therefore long been controversial. A research consortium is now working on a domestic alternative to palm oil. The NextVegOil project focuses on developing a process for producing a microbial oil based on agricultural residues.