Klimafolgenforschung an landwirtschaftlichen Sonderkulturen und deren Verarbeitungsprodukten

The production of special crops and their secondary products is of utmost importance for food security and safety worldwide. To ensure sustainable production of fruits and vegetables under a changing climate, we have to study suitable adaptation processes and possible mitigation strategies.

Corresponding to their expertise, the partners in this consortium are mainly looking at viticulture systems and their processed products (juice, wine). The grapevine as a perennial plant can serve as a role model to many fruit systems. These systems are affected by drought, extreme weather, new and emerging pathogens, and soil quality, and in turn, influence their environments. For example, even though viticulture only covers 0.87% of agrarian area in Germany (100.000ha of 11,5 Mio. ha), 20% of fungicides applied are used in vineyards. Looking at an European level, the ratio is even more striking (more fungicides are applied to vineyards than to all other crops combined), and France with roughly 3% viticultural area of 28 Mio. ha agricultural land represents a similar problem. Mitigation strategies that maintain a high quality of product but reduce the impact on soils, use of pesticides, and loss of biodiversity can have a big impact on reaching the goals mentioned above.

The graduate school wants to contribute to a more sustainable form of viticulture by:

– Understanding what happens in the vine and the grape under changing conditions (heat, CO2, drought, heavy precipitation, pathogen infestation).

– Understanding the physiological and genetic basis of differences between species or in reaction to abiotic and biotic stress.

– Developing cultivation systems that reduce the impact of viticulture on the environment (pesticide reduction, water use, fertilization, loss of biodiversity, improve carbon storage, reduce greenhouse gas emissions).

– Studying oenological practices to address changes in the winemaking process (i.e., alcohol content) or entirely different products from grapes as a basis.

– Produce innovative grape/wine products and derivatives to respond to consumer and market demand (no/low alcohol wine, wine with less inputs, byproducts (extraction of bio-active compounds) and their reuse etc. …)

By combining studies in two hemispheres, three climates, and three countries, we are able to compare and analyze data to a much deeper and more efficient (2 harvests per year) level in order to understand underlying mechanisms in addition to providing excellent scientific infrastructure and laboratories, experimental vineyards and fields and academic expertise.