Research

As part of the Green Deal, agriculture faces the challenge of climate neutrality by reducing emissions and sequestering carbon in soils. Within the EU Soil Strategy ecosystem functions of healthy soils contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation should be achieved. However, currently there are hardly any realistic implementation strategies for these goals within crop production. As a new approach, the EU “Mission Soil Health” defines lighthouse farms as innovation drivers for achieving the climate and soil goals of the Green Deal. In the project SoilPioneers 2050, a national network of lighthouse farms is being set up at 60 locations, covering the most important soil and climate types as well as farming types in Austria. Modern scientific instruments are established on-farm to specifically monitor the soil functions of climate protection, nutrient efficiency, erosion protection and climate change adaptation. The potential for optimizing soil health through regenerative and agroecological practices compared to current agricultural state-of-the art systems, particularly with regard to efficient carbon, nitrogen and water cycles, is recorded through comprehensive soil indicator assessment. Based on the measured indicators, a soil quality model is developed that quantifies the management advance achieved for the individual soil functions and supports the farmers in further management optimization. A new platform will be used to process satellite data for soil organic matter balancing and assessment of crop resilience to heat/drought stress. By integrating crop-based remote sensing data into the soil quality model, the soil function assessment is improved and linked to progress made in climate change adaptation of crop production within the lighthouse farm network. Based on the improvements recorded in soil organic matter formation, nutrient and water efficiency as well as crop resilience achieved by the lighthouse farms, new simulation models will be used to develop improved estimates of climate and soil protection potentials through management innovation in arable farming within the framework of the Green Deal goals and future climate scenarios. By integrating innovative agricultural practice and research in a lighthouse farmer network, the project offers practical management solutions for the national implementation of the Green Deal goals, thereby also providing an important Europe-wide exemple for future-oriented climate action in agriculture.

Secondary plant metabolites (SPM) are contained in vegetables, fruit, pulses, nuts and wholegrain products and give fruit and vegetables and products made from them many health-promoting properties. The DGE recommends a high intake of vegetables and fruit, including pulses and nuts, as well as wholegrain products to ensure a good supply of phytochemicals to support wellbeing. The content of SPS in plant-based raw materials and products depends on numerous factors, such as plant species, variety, growing conditions, storage and, of course, processing and preservation, which are the focus of research. The effects of processing on the various secondary plant metabolites can vary greatly, depending on the process, the content is reduced or may even be more available. While processing is beneficial in terms of availability, heat, oxygen and mechanical processing have a reducing effect on other substances. There is therefore a need for further research on specific products in order to determine actual changes and counteract the losses. The aim of the research is therefore to quantify the losses along the processing chain of sprouts, from the raw material to the finished product, based on the antioxidant potential.

The overall goal of this innovation action is to improve the competitiveness of European legume crops. This will be achieved by establishing focused innovation partnerships between research- and industry-based players who together will increase the availability of well-adapted and productive cultivars of key legumes species. The partnership framework is designed to be sustained after the project ends with the ability to expand into other species. There are twelve objectives. Six of these relate to cross-cutting (generic) matters that arise from the call topic. Six are focused on the improvement of specific species, or groups of similar species: Soya bean Lupin Pea Common bean Lentil Clovers BOKU engagement in WPs: Soybean (J. Vollmann, R. Hood-Nowotny) Lupin (J. Strauss)