Agriculture sciences

The use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in agriculture is still under intense debate, and national differences of opinion have hindered a pan-European solution thus far. Still, while the global cultivation area of GMOs increased by only 3% from 2015 to 2016 (179.7 million hectares versus 185.1 million hectares), across the EU the area increased by 17% (from 116,870 to 136,363 hectares). Nonetheless, resistance against GMO products remained high in Europe.

European agricultural policies will have to change. That is the main message of the “LivingLand”-initiative that came to a close on May 2. Throughout the initiative, a public consultation on future common agricultural policies (CAP) in the EU, lay-citizens, farmers, and companies alike were asked to voice their opinions and suggestions in order to transform today’s agriculture into a more sustainable industry for tomorrow.

The Hannover Messe is Europe’s largest trade fair. The fair took place from April 24 to 28 with approximately 6,500 exhibitors from more than 70 countries.

The Priority Programs (PP) are a good way to gauge to future of basic research. Typically, PPs are multidisciplinary research projects assessing current topics with state-of-the-art methodologies. Supporting junior researchers and fostering gender equality are important aspects regarding the decision-making process on which PPs will get funded. Including the recently announced PP there are currently 97 PPs being funded by the DFG.

Global warming and the climate change have many negative consequences for the environment and for agriculture. The wine industry has been suffering a lot over the recent years due to extreme weather occurrences like storms and hail. An international team consisting of researchers spanning multiple disciplines and including James Daniell at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is analyzing, which areas are affected most by climate change and how wine cultivation areas may have to change in the future.

Despite great advances in technologies, precise weather forecasts are still very difficult to make. Thus, many researchers rely on computer models. However, these models are built upon specific data sets, which are difficult to come by. In particular agriculture requires exact forecasts and is largely negatively affected by the ongoing climate change.

Half of the total global carbon dioxide stock is stored within the tropical vegetation, which only serves to worsen the consequences of tropical deforestation. Every year approximately 1,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are released due to deforestation. However, instead of complete forest removal, oftentimes the forests are fragmented into many smaller forest-areas.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development established a number of agricultural goals regarding eco-friendly economic practices. However, especially the developing world is faced with decreased cost-efficiencies during the implementation of the environmentally-sound production processes. In order to address these issues, 40 ministers, CEOs, high-level representatives of UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations and trade unions, as well as more than 300 sustainable development experts gathered in Berlin.

Forests as a resource and ecosystem offer countless opportunities and possible applications. Unfortunately, oftentimes many of these are not compatible. Therefore it is particularly important to develop intelligent plans and policies in order to protect the forest as an ecosystem and as a home for numerous animal- and plant-species, while simultaneously being used as a sustainable resource.

Agricultural enterprises oftentimes accommodate several hundred cows that all need to be fed and taken care of healthwise.  The healthier the animals, the higher are the yields.