SuSAKlim
DiP:SuSaKlim – Superfood from Saxony-Anhalt; climate-adapted crop rotations in organic farming and development of digital value chains for marketing
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Short description
The aim of the DiP joint project “Superfood from Saxony-Anhalt” is the cultivation of innovative drought-resistant crop rotations (chickpea, millet, quinoa, oil flax, safflower, amaranth, buckwheat) in organic farming and their processing into plant-based organic products in the focus region. Sustainable management is anticipated along the entire value chain: At the AEVZ Merbitz experimental station (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg), exact trials will be implemented in accordance with the guidelines of the EU Organic Farming Regulation. These crop rotations are tested under practical conditions on farms that work according to the standards of the organic farming associations Naturland and demeter. The test results are collected on a digital platform, that is made available to the farms. An experimental infrastructure with digital field sensors and phenotyping to assess relevant data in the context of “climate x soil x plant” interaction is planned. Using agroecosystem modeling, a digital twin of the cropping systems will be created based on the collected data, which will serve to evaluate the productivity and drought resilience under varying soil and climate conditions and to assess sustainability criteria. A digital decision support program will be developed for farmers and advisors, which will support in the transfer of the innovative crop rotations from the testing phase to successful practical cultivation in Saxony-Anhalt. In the context of the development of green value chains, the production, processing and marketing of innovative foods, e.g. cheese made from fermented chick peas, will mainly take place in the Halle region and surrounding areas. The focus will be on direct marketing in order to enable decentralized value creation with organic products. This is to be supported by online shops.
Project duration
April 2024 – December 2028
Staff involved
- Anastasia Ogay
- Steffen Both
- Karolin Kunz
- Janna Macholdt
- Crop Research Unit
Collaboration partners
- Urte Grauwinkel, Prof. Dr. Bruno Glaser, Department of Soil Biogeochemistry, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
- Sonnengut Gerster
- Rittergut Etzdorf
- Zukunftsspeisen