Agriculture sciences

Plastics are not only polluting the water and land. The tiny nano- and microplastic particles (NMP) are also increasingly becoming a threat to ecosystems.

In 2022, Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger signed an agreement to strengthen joint bioeconomy research during her visit to the Australian state of Queensland. With the ‘Joint Declaration of Intent’, Germany and Australia want to expand their long-standing research cooperation.

Nowadays, potatoes, maize and other crops are planted in extensive fields so that agricultural machinery can work the land - even in locations where crops do not have optimal growing conditions. In such cases, fertilisers and pesticides are usually used to compensate for the disadvantage and achieve good yields. However, this common cultivation method is increasingly reaching its limits. An alternative could be the concept of spot farming.

Supplying a growing world population with affordable food is becoming increasingly difficult due to climate-related extremes such as heat, drought or heavy rainfall. But climate change is not the only factor jeopardising food security. According to studies, agricultural fertilisation practices are partly responsible for the fact that ecosystems such as the soil are over-fertilised and under pressure. New solutions are therefore needed for sustainable, resource-efficient and adaptable agricultural production.

Where streets and houses dominate instead of green spaces and water, it can sometimes become unbearably hot in summer. Solutions are needed because researchers are predicting an increase in heat waves as a result of climate change. Sponge cities can provide effective heat protection. Researchers at the Technische Universität (TU) Berlin want to design such a sponge city neighbourhood on the former site of Tegel Airport. In August, work began on planting a total of six so-called evaporation beds.

In many places, the consequences of climate change are already being felt in agriculture. Crop losses due to extreme weather conditions and pest infestations have increased in recent years. At the same time, agriculture is under pressure to reduce the use of fertilisers and pesticides and cut CO₂ emissions. But how can the environment and climate be protected without jeopardising yields?

Peatlands are huge carbon reservoirs and a hotspot of biodiversity. However, many moors in Germany have been drained in recent decades. Due to their importance for climate and species protection, the German government has put the renaturation and protection of wetlands on the political agenda with the National Moorland Protection Strategy 2022. This also requires new utilization concepts so that farmers can cultivate the renaturalized areas in a climate-friendly and profitable way. This is where the I-Robi project comes in.

In light of a growing population and dwindling resources due to climate change, alternative protein sources for the production of new foods are becoming increasingly important. Their range is broad: legumes, algae, fungi and insects as well as proteins obtained through cell-based or fermentative processes are suitable as raw material sources for a healthy, environmentally conscious and sustainable diet. The development of innovative foods based on alternative proteins has also become attractive to investors.

Water is a precious commodity and often causes conflicts of use. Water shortages are already occurring in some regions of Germany due to heat and drought. According to experts, agriculture alone accounts for 70% of global water consumption as the main food producer and is therefore particularly reliant on cultivation methods that ensure food security in the future with little water. As part of the “HypoWave+” project, partners from research and industry have developed a particularly water-efficient method for hydroponic vegetable cultivation in recent years.