Agriculture sciences

The number of hot days with air temperatures of at least 30 degrees Celsius has been increasing in Germany for years as a result of climate change. This is documented by long-term records of the German Weather Service. In contrast, there is hardly any data on the temperature development in the ground, as the measurements are very complex. In a project coordinated by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), a team of researchers has now examined the development of ground temperature in more detail.

In nature, each plant competes for the best growing conditions. They are therefore confronted with diverse and changing environmental influences and usually grow in less densely packed neighborhoods than cultivated plants in the open. In addition to environmental conditions that are as uniform and stable as possible, there is also a certain amount of shading by neighboring plants due to plant density. Researchers at the IPK Leibniz Institute have now shown that a plant's selfish characteristics are often detrimental to agriculture.

It is the single largest investment in Bayer's crop protection business in 40 years and a clear commitment to the site in Monheim: the Leverkusen-based company plans to spend EUR 220 million to build a new research and development center here, thus strengthening its commitment to sustainable agriculture. In the presence of North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister President Hendrik Wüst, the construction site for the new buildings in Monheim was opened at the end of August with the traditional groundbreaking ceremony.

Leaf fleas are a horror for fruit growers. The so-called psyllids sting the plant with their sucking mouthparts and suck out the plant sap. In this way, the parasitic leaf fleas sometimes cause high crop losses. Until now, fruit growers have tried to control the pest with the help of synthetic chemical pesticides. An international team of researchers with the participation of the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) has now, by chance, found a suitable antagonist in a parasitic fungus to eliminate the leaf flea in fruit growing in a natural way.

Wheat is one of the most important foods in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 22 million tons of winter wheat were harvested in Germany last year - around five percent more than the year before. But the grain is sensitive to environmental influences, as the past heat years have shown. In Hesse alone, a third of the harvest was lost to heat and drought in 2018. Technology, fertilizers and artificial irrigation also reached their limits.

Already to be found in some supermarkets: glass mini-farms in which lettuce or herbs grow on several floors in a special nutrient solution without pesticides under LED light and are sold freshly harvested directly on site. This controlled and resource-conserving plant cultivation in so-called vertical farms is not only sustainable, but the yields are also significantly higher, according to experts. For companies in the food industry, urban plant cultivation thus opens up entirely new opportunities.

With their high protein content, legumes are healthy and are now an integral part of many plant-based foods. The consumer trend toward healthy eating is causing demand for vegan foods to rise further. Seed specialist KWS Saat SE & Co. KGaA and the Berlin-based start-up company VF Nutrition GmbH, better known under the brand name vly, have now agreed a development partnership lasting several years.

Climate change and industrialization put pressure on ecosystems worldwide - including the valuable resource soil. Especially its ability to store important greenhouse gases is being impaired. It has long been known that microorganisms play an important role in the conversion of organic carbon in the soil. However, how biological and environmental processes affect carbon storage in soils was largely unknown until now. An international team of researchers with the participation of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena now provides answers.