Agriculture sciences

The varroa mite is the greatest threat to the western bee (Apis mellifera). The tiny parasite Varroa destructor feeds on its body fluid and attacks larvae in the hive, damaging its offspring and causing entire hives to die. "After about 18 months after the first infection, a hive is dead if nothing is done about it," says Dr. Stanislav Balouchev of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. Together with Katharina Landfester, the researcher hopes to use smart technology to protect bees from this scourge.

Plant pests and infectious diseases destroy large parts of agricultural harvests every year. The losses would be even greater if there were no chemical-synthetic pesticides. But they also have their downsides: “Too high a dosage can lead to contamination of the groundwater and deterioration in soil fertility," explains Frank Ewert, Scientific Director of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF).

Many countries have already put the bioeconomy on the political agenda to drive social and economic change in the country. According to a study by the Bioeconomy Council, an advisory body to the German government, 49 countries - including Brazil - have launched bioeconomy programmes to date. International cooperation is becoming increasingly important on the road to a bioeconomy.

Over the decades, plant breeding has continuously increased the yield of arable plants. But would these modern high-performance varieties be superior to their predecessors from before the intensification of agriculture even without fertilizers, chemical pesticides and changing climatic conditions? Researchers at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, together with colleagues from other German universities and the Julius Kühn Institute, have presented empirical facts on this controversial question for the first time.

Proteins are an important component of animal feed. However, protein-rich crops such as lupins and peas are still niche products on European fields. The protein used in European cattle feed mainly comes from soya and fish meal imports.

In agriculture, mineral fertilizers play an important role in supplying plants with nutrients. But these fertilizers are problematic as both their energy-intensive production and import are harmful to the climate. In addition, the reserves that can be economically exploited are limited and will probably be exhausted within a few decades. Biobased fertilizers are therefore becoming increasingly important - but they too can have their problems.

Strenzfelder, Lacaune or Lizagarotte - in Europe there are about 5,000 landraces of maize. They were developed during the 400 years of cultivation without systematic breeding. But for about 50 years, they have existed almost exclusively in gene banks, and elite breeding lines have taken their place. While the latter have been optimized for yield and quality, the land races have other strengths: they are more robust because they are well adapted to different environmental conditions.

From climate crisis to extinction of species - agriculture is significantly contributing to many ecological problems. However, it does not have to be this way, but is a consequence of agricultural practices. The European Union could exert great influence on these, since its agricultural subsidies have a steering effect. Around 40% of the European Union's land area - 174 million hectares - is used for agriculture. By its own account, the European Commission wants to tackle the sustainability problem with a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The need for land for the cultivation of food is growing. However, erosion and climate change cause available land areas to shrink, instead. At the same time, competition for the use of these areas is increasing, for example for energy crops or raw material crops for the chemical industry. One possible solution could be so-called vertical agriculture, in which fruit and vegetables are cultivated in layers. The plants grow in a controlled environment in daylight or artificial light in nutrient solutions and do not require arable land or soil.

When a disease infestation in a field becomes visible to the naked eye, the infection has often already spread and caused damage. In addition, the symptom alone does not always make it clear which pathogen is involved and which therapy is therefore the most effective. The companies Ontera Inc. and BASF therefore want to speed up the process: They have agreed to collaborate on research into a portable system for the early diagnosis of plant diseases.