Cropping Systems & Yield Formation

The cultivation system of sugar beet is constantly challenged to be optimized to meet ecological and socio-economical demands. For this purpose, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are an important guideline and also accompany the work of our group: we question current cultivation systems for their future viability and test possible adjustments. This involves technical adaptations as well as future climatic conditions and the respective regional specifics. Cooperation with agricultural practice in on-farm trials is particularly helpful here. Systemic and holistic assessments are important to us in order to keep as many sustainable development goals as possible in mind. Our most important expertise is the protection of resources and environmental compartments.

Yield forecast models are an important decision-making tool for mapping and evaluating future sugar beet cultivation conditions. In collaborative research projects, we work on a database and concepts to model sugar yield developments. To this end, we research effects of abiotic factors, e.g. increased CO₂ concentration, and investigate if and under what conditions sugar beet yields will increase.