Digital Technologies for Sustainable Crop Production

The development of digital technologies for sustainable crop production is a central research focus of the Faculty of Agriculture. The aim is to reduce the negative environmental impact of agricultural land use while maintaining yields to ensure global food security. New technologies combine sensors, artificial intelligence and automation. They enable demand-oriented management at the level of individual plants and promise to drastically reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. At the same time, automation allows the management of crop type combinations with potentially positive effects on biodiversity and yields. This research focus has developed over the last 10 years in a series of coordinated collaborative projects and reached its preliminary peak with the acquisition of the Cluster of Excellence “Phenotyping and Robotics for Sustainable Crop Production” (PhenoRob), the only Cluster of Excellence in the agricultural sector in Germany.

Sustainability means using resources in such a way that today’s needs are met without neglecting or even disregarding those of future generations. This raises many questions in very different areas: poverty, hunger, food security, demographic change, health, environmental protection, climate change and the responsible use of resources present us with global challenges. In order to achieve progress towards the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals, our scientists combine basic research with solution-oriented and interdisciplinary research approaches, engage in global networks and work together with the UN organizations based in Bonn.