Agriculture and forestry

Weeds are a problem for many farms. In conventional farming, heavy equipment and pesticides are used to try to kill the unwanted plants or keep them in check. In organic farming, no chemicals are used. Here, the weed problem is solved mechanically or thermally. But even this method is not ideal: it is often expensive and can also disturb soil organisms and promote erosion. Researchers at the University of Rostock have now taken a closer look at weed vegetation in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) in a large-scale field trial. Eleven organic farms from MV were involved.

Fruit pits from plums, cherries, peaches or apricots usually end up in the trash. In fruit processing, over 500 million kilos of pits are thrown away every year in Europe alone. For Austrian start-up Kern Tec GmbH, this is a source of raw materials for new foods. The potential of this upcycling idea has also convinced the system service provider BayWa. Through its investment arm, BayWa Venture GmbH, the Munich-based company is now joining the food tech start-up as a partner and investor.

Overfishing of the oceans is a global problem. According to the environmental protection organization WWF, 33% of commercial fish stocks are affected. In Europe, the situation is even more dramatic: In the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as much as 62.2% of stocks are considered overfished. Meanwhile, however, demand for fish continues to rise. Food tech startup Bluu Seafood wants to rebalance overfished seas with alternatives made from cultured fish cells.

Provence is famous for its lavender fields. In July and August, the blue and purple flowers are not only beautiful to look at: The scent also attracts bees and butterflies, which feast on the sweet nectar. Because of its essential oils, the plant has also been valued as a remedy for centuries and is still used today for the production of medicines and natural cosmetics. A research team now wants to establish lavender cultivation in the Swabian Jura in order to obtain raw materials for the bioeconomy from it.

Medicine has always relied on the healing powers of nature. Plant-based active ingredients are therefore a sought-after raw material for both the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. However, their extraction from medicinal plants such as thyme and chamomile is subject to natural fluctuations, so that the active ingredient content varies. In addition, climate change and barren soils further reduce the concentrations of the ingredients, thus lowering the quality of conventionally extracted essential oil.

Palm oil is one of the most versatile and sought-after vegetable oils: it is found in many foods such as ice cream, chocolate and potato chips, and is also used in the production of cosmetics and biodiesel. Yet palm oil cultivation in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia has economic, social and also environmental consequences, and has therefore long been controversial. A research consortium is now working on a domestic alternative to palm oil. The NextVegOil project focuses on developing a process for producing a microbial oil based on agricultural residues.

Plants need not only sunlight but also water from the soil to grow. However, the past three years of heat and drought have upset this necessary balance. The consequences are already manifold: in addition to crop failures, pests such as the bark beetle have decimated the tree population of forests in many places. A study by researchers from Germany, the Netherlands and Australia now shows what impact climate change will have on plants and ecosystems.

This year's asparagus season has recently come to an end. Although the season fell far short of expectations for asparagus farmers, huge quantities of asparagus peels ended up in the waste. A research team at Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts wondered whether these residual materials could not be put to better use in the sense of a biobased circular economy.