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.
The agricultural and food industry is in a state of transition. Not only climate change, but also the increasing demand for healthy and sustainably produced products as well as new regulations and laws are forcing the industry to act. Specialists in the agricultural and food industry must therefore increasingly take international and interdisciplinary contexts into account. The Technical University of Munich (TUM) wants to address this development with a new Master's degree course in agriculture.
According to estimates, more than 900 million tons of residual biomass are produced throughout the European Union every year. Only a small proportion of this is recycled and fermented in biogas plants, for example. The majority, around 98%, ends up in, incineration plants or landfill sites. But this is now set to change.
Whether waste paper, cereal straw, food waste or sewage sludge: the use of residual and waste materials to manufacture new bio-based products is a cornerstone of the bioeconomy strategy and a precursor to a sustainable and resource-conserving economy. But which biomasses are available, which can be used for material or energy purposes and in what quantities are they available? Answers can be found in the resource database of the German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ). Researchers at the DBFZ have now revised the online platform.
An international study from 2022 shows that wetlands such as peatlands can store five times more carbon per square meter than forests and even 500 times more than the oceans. In Germany, peatlands have been drained in recent decades in order to be able to use the land for agriculture. This has not only destroyed the habitat of many plants and animals, but also an important CO2 reservoir.
Soils are a vital resource and indispensable for ecosystems, climate and people. They not only store large amounts of carbon and water, but also provide plants with nutrients and people with food. However, industrial agriculture and the consequences of the climate crisis are putting soils under increasing pressure. According to a recent study, more than a third of agricultural land worldwide is degraded, in the European Union even more than 60%.
In view of global challenges, markets and trade relations, a sustainable bioeconomy can only succeed through international cooperation. In 2012, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the "Bioeconomy International" initiative ("Bioökonomie International"), with the first projects starting the following year. Research alliances between German players and partners from non-EU countries are supported. The aim is to strengthen research cooperation with the world's best and tap into international innovation potential.
Meadows and pastures are important carbon sinks. The soils of so-called grasslands absorb a third of the world's carbon stock. Until now, researchers have assumed that carbon storage depends on the amount of plants growing on the soil. A recent study now disproves this assumption. In it, an international research team with the participation of Leuphana University Lüneburg examined the connection between the plant diversity of grasslands and carbon sequestration in soils in more detail.