Agriculture sciences

Plants mediate their interactions with the environment via chemical signals. One example of this is the alkaloid gramine, which is produced by barley, one of the world's most widely cultivated cereals. Gramine provides protection against herbivorous insects and grazing animals and inhibits the growth of other plants. The toxin is particularly present in the green parts of the plant, such as leaves and stalks, but hardly ever in the grains, which can be safely used for food production.

Climate change is also increasingly causing crop losses in viticulture. In particular, the rapid alternation between drought and heavy rainfall damages the grapes and promotes the spread of fungal diseases such as vine peronospora (Plasmopara viticola) and grey mould rot (Botrytis cinerea). Winegrowers therefore use plant protection products to protect the grape varieties. In order to meet the climate-related challenges in viticulture in an environmentally friendly way, experts are focussing on fungus-resistant grape varieties, known as PIWIs.

There are many fungi and bacteria that live in symbiosis with plant roots and enrich each other. Plants can only grow because they are supplied with nutrients and water from the soil via the roots with the help of microorganisms. This diverse community of microorganisms, also known as the microbiome, also protects the host plant from harmful organisms and is therefore a guarantee for plant health.

How can agriculture secure food for a growing world population without putting further strain on the planet? With the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, the European Union 2020 has drawn up a plan for how the region can become climate-neutral by 2050. This strategy is part of the European Green Deal and includes measures and targets for the production and consumption of food within planetary boundaries, such as reducing the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030.

As the successor to the EU's well-known ERA-NET research funding, the current Horizon Europe research framework includes so-called public-public partnerships. A partnership of this type relevant to bioeconomy research was launched in January 2024: "Agroecology living labs and research infrastructures - AGROECOLOGY".

Ensuring food security is the most important task of agriculture. However, the sector is already suffering from the consequences of climate change and is under pressure to secure food for a growing world population. At the same time, it is partly responsible for a large proportion of climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions and for the loss of biodiversity. A change in agricultural and food systems towards greater sustainability is the only way to master the challenges of the future.

The cultivation of pure crops such as maize, when grown as a monoculture, is not always environmentally friendly. The nutrients are used very one-sidedly, so that the plants are more susceptible to pests and fertilizers and pesticides have to be applied. Combined cultivation with legumes such as peas and beans has long been considered a promising approach to making agriculture more sustainable.

Around a third of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the way in which land is farmed and food is produced. Above all, meat consumption and the associated animal husbandry contribute to climate-damaging emissions and require a rethink in agriculture. A global report on the economics of agricultural and food systems shows how the global economy would benefit from a food transition.

Whether heat, drought or flooding: Weather extremes put food crops such as wheat under stress and increasingly lead to crop failures. In addition to research into new resistant varieties that can withstand the effects of climate change and secure food supplies, diagnostic tools are needed to detect climate-related stress symptoms or diseases in plants at an early stage. Two imaging methods that have proven their worth in human medicine should also provide a remedy in agriculture in the future.