Innovation support programme | Umweltbundesamt

Changes in the climate will have a significant influence on weather in Central European regions. For example, they will affect the seasonal distribution of precipitation and sunshine. Weather influences are crucial for how crops grow and thrive.

As part of supporting innovation, innovative projects in the areas of plant cultivation, livestock breeding and efficient irrigation will be supported.

Objectives of individual announcements:

•  Guidelines for support of innovations to cultivate climate adapted crops: Weather influences are crucial for how crops grow and thrive. Changes in the climate will have a significant influence on weather in Central European regions. For example, they affect the seasonal distribution of precipitation and sunshine. Plant cultivation in Germany needs to remain competitive as climatic conditions change. As a result, precautionary strategies need to address the crops themselves. In addition, the export opportunities for German seeds will be improved, making a contribution to safeguarding global food supplies.

The productivity and stability of crops is determined to a large extent by the genome. Therefore, cultivation can make a crucial contribution to improving crops.

Innovations are required to make it easier to select plants as an initial material for this purpose. The required cultivation methods and procedures need to be available and shared so that findings can be incorporated into practical cultivation more quickly. To safeguard the range and quality of products in the long term, a framework needs to be put in place to provide crops under changing location conditions, improve tolerance and resistance to important biotic and abiotic stress factors, increase the efficiency of water and nutrient use and safeguard the quality features under changing climatic conditions.

•  Guidelines for supporting innovations for efficient and sustainable management of water resources: Water is a fundamental factor in agriculture and in food production. Around 70 percent of global water consumption is used in agriculture. A rapidly growing global population, changing eating habits and the effects of climate change are leading to increasing worldwide demand for water and food.

Even in Germany, the water consumption per unit of food, which is required for primary production and, to an even greater extent, for processing, is considerable. Although the majority of climate scenarios forecast that annual precipitation in Germany will remain largely the same, a seasonal shift is expected in certain regions in the form of higher winter precipitation and reducing summer precipitation. Intensive production methods aimed at achieving a high yield level are gaining in attractiveness, thanks to the increased demand for agricultural raw materials for generation of bio energy and the expected rise in agricultural prices as a result. Irrigation of cultures that were previously hardly irrigated at all is becoming increasingly worthwhile. This will increase overall water consumption and intensity competition for water.

As a result, efficient use of water along the value chain from agricultural production through to the food industry is a key challenge. Developing new concepts and methods (including the use of satellite controlled technologies) to increase water productivity can simultaneously make a contribution to safeguarding global food supplies.

•  Guidelines for supporting innovations for less resource intensive and lower emission production of animal products: Production of animal products is hugely important for German agriculture. This sector is characterised by a strong regional focus. Concentration of intensive businesses can lead to an economically advantageous infrastructure in the corresponding areas. However, livestock breeding also causes high emissions in some cases. These emissions can influence the soil and groundwater quality and lead to adverse effects for direct neighbours and local communities. Direct emissions from pens, from slurry pits and slurry processing are just some examples. Livestock breeding is also a significant cause of greenhouse gas emissions.

Livestock breeding is a particular challenge in efficient agriculture that develops dynamically in terms of its sustainability. The gaseous, liquid and solid by-products that occur with livestock breeding need to be minimised, where possible used for something or brought into a condition in which they can be disposed of.

Implementing the federal government's sustainability strategy makes it necessary to find comprehensive location-specific and process based solutions in this area. Innovations can enable animal production to minimise its emissions and utilise them more efficiently. Incorporating these innovations into existing regional structures plays a major role. A sustainable increase in efficiency should also improve acceptance of livestock breeding in society.