2016/08/23 - Sustainable Intensification for a viable future

On 12 July 2016, Prof. Dr. Klaus Dittert spoke on the options of sustainably increasing agricultural yields, as proposed by Prof. Dr. Bernward Märländer, Director of the Institute of Sugar Beet Research (IfZ) and himself. This lecture was part of a series held at the University of Göttingen.

In this presentation, Dittert and Märländer pointed out the consequences of this intensification requirement, for both science and the  industry. “Among agricultural scientists, there is a broadly shared consensus that future productivity increases will need to be realised  without additional land requirement and without negative environmental impacts”, says Dittert. “This is indispensable for establishing  food security in poorer countries, but also for solving existing problems in the agrarian sectors of industrial nations. We need to increase  productivity and we need to protect resources, if we want to enable future generations to produce sustainably.”

Challenges for science and for practice

Among the greatest challenges crop cultivation is facing in  Germany is nutrient pollution in the air and in water bodies, as well as the finiteness of resources such as phosphate. As a systems science,  agricultural research meets such challenges with inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches. According to Dittert and Märländer, a primary  objective is to intensify transfer of new research findings to agricultural practice, together with the inclusion of relevant questions from practical  experience into scientific research. Integrative research structures which promote the dialog between scientists and practicians may contribute to  removing this bottleneck.

Less nitrogen per tonne of sugar

The Göttingen crop research practice provided numerous examples of future-oriented scientific projects for sustainable increase, such as  plant breeding and improved cultivation management as means for achieving markedly higher nitrogen efficiency in sugar beets: during the 1980s,  sugar beets required approximately 30 kg of nitrogen per tonne of sugar; today this ratio is 10 kg to1 t. The goal is to reduce nitrogen application  to 5 kg per tonne of sugar.

Development of Networks

As a conclusion, Dittert and Märländer highlighted the structures currently created at the Department of Crop Sciences and the two  associated institutes, in order to facilitate the exchange between science, industry and practice. Educational and training programs will certainly  play leading roles within the stakeholder network.