news 2023

University of Bonn study shows where diversified farming also makes economic sense Where and how can diversified farming practices be put to profitable use in order to boost both productivity and biodiversity? Researchers at the University of Bonn have tackled this question in a study that has now been published in "Communications Earth & Environment.

Research on the electrification of agricultural machinery The special requirements placed on trucks and agricultural machinery often make it difficult for engineers to bring them into the electric age. At the Agritechnica agricultural machinery fair researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are now showing what a modular development kit for electric tractors can look like.

With the aid of innovative statistical methods, researchers explore the complex interplay between life cycle, environmental factors and genetic information using wheat as an example. Cereal crops such as wheat are sensitive to climate change. Many studies show that their yield decreases as temperatures rise and extreme weather events increase.

Researchers at the University of Freiburg quantify the amount of material needed to enable people to live without poverty 1.2 billion people live in poverty. To lift them out of it, an average of about six tons of raw materials are needed per person and year - in particular minerals, fossil fuels, biomass and metal ores.

Preserved local fruits and vegetables can improve nutrition in East Africa In East Africa, up to 50 percent of cultivated fruits and vegetables cannot be used, partly because they spoil too quickly before or after harvest. At the same time, the population suffers from micronutrient deficiencies, also known as hidden hunger, which could be alleviated by increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

A new technology will facilitate quick, easy and precise fertilizing in the field in the future. Thanks to the combination of biosensor test strips and satellite-based remote sensing data, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is developing a method for determining the nutritional condition of cereals and the perfect amount of fertilizer.

Göttingen University agroecology researchers evaluate effects with a meta-analysis The global decline in biodiversity is serious. Agricultural land use is a major contributor - especially farming single crops on a massive scale. Mixing crops can counteract this: in fields where different crops grow at the same time, there are more beneficial insects and spiders than in monocultures.

Researchers evaluate the benefits compared to monocultures with a meta-analysis The global decline in biodiversity is serious. Agricultural land use is a major contributor - especially the large-scale cultivation of individual crops in monocultures. Mixed crops can counteract this: There are more beneficial arthropods, such as insects and spiders, in fields where different crops grow simultaneously than in monocultures.

Under certain circumstances, a rare tropical plant develops into a carnivore. A research team from the universities of Hannover and Würzburg has now deciphered the mechanism responsible for this. Triphyophyllum peltatum is a unique plant. Native to the tropics of West Africa, the liana species is of great interest for medical and pharmaceutical research due to its constituents: In the laboratory, these show promising medically useful activities against pancreatic cancer and leukemia cells, among others, as well as against the pathogens that cause malaria and other diseases.

Research team with participation of the University of Göttingen clarifies tooth wear in ruminants Ruminants show a special behavior when eating: They swallow their plant food roughly chewed, then regurgitate it several times and continue chewing. This has a decisive advantage, as a research team with participation from the University of Göttingen has shown: The regurgitated food mush contains fewer hard silicates from sand and dust than the food initially ingested.

A diet rich in plant substances promotes the elasticity of blood vessels and counteracts their aging. An international research team with the participation of the University of Leipzig has for the first time demonstrated a strong positive effect of the green, Mediterranean diet on the condition of the aorta.

Children will eat more fruits and vegetables if families take more time to eat meals. This is the result of a new study led by researchers at the University of Mannheim and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Their experiment shows that children will eat significantly more fruits and vegetables if they on average stay at the table for only ten minutes more - 30 minutes in total.

Researchers at the University of Bonn discover gene variants in wheat and barley that improve nitrogen utilization Nitrogen as a fertilizer can increase yields. However, too much nitrogen can also have negative effects, such as groundwater pollution, high energy consumption in fertilizer production and the generation of climate-relevant gases.

Why we can't keep our hands off candy bars and co. Chocolate bars, potato chips and chips - why can't we just leave them to the left in the supermarket? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolic Research in Cologne, Germany, in collaboration with Yale University, have now shown that foods with a high fat and sugar content change our brain: If we regularly eat even small amounts of them, the brain learns to want to continue consuming precisely these foods.

Water is one of the essential resources of all life. Ensuring that all people have access to clean drinking water and safeguarding its quality is not just a task for politicians. Scientists like Prof. Pu Li, head of the Process Optimization Group at the TU Ilmenau, also make an important contribution to our water supply with their research.

Study by the University of Bonn confirms reduction of the greenhouse gas methane by 99 percent Livestock farming produces large quantities of greenhouse gases, especially methane, which is particularly harmful to the climate. Among other things, it escapes during the storage of animal excrement, the slurry.

International research team shows benefits of adapting barley varieties to climate change Extreme weather events such as heavy rains and flooding triggered by the intensification of the water cycle due to climate change, are increasingly threatening food security. Large collaborative research projects around the world are working to better adapt plant genetics to the climate conditions of current and future barley-growing regions.

International research team investigates pollination performance in macadamia plantations To reduce biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes, more sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices are needed. A research team from the Universities of Göttingen and Hohenheim in Germany, and Venda in South Africa, investigated how ecosystem services such as pollination could be improved in macadamia plantations.

International research team including Göttingen University investigates extent of drainage and conversion The drainage of natural wetlands has been useful for farming, forestry and peat extraction, but has also had a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions, flood control, nutrient loss and biodiversity.

Biologist Katja Irob from Freie Universität publishes results of a joint study carried out by German and Namibian researchers in the Journal of Applied Ecology Extreme climate events pose an ever-increasing threat to savannas around the world. However, the ability of these mixed woodland-grassland ecosystems to resist periods of drought can be improved with a higher number of browsing herbivores - i.e., animals such as kudus, springboks, and common elands that feed on woody vegetation.