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Sustainable intensification of agriculture through agroforestry (SIGNAL 3)
Project
Project code: JKI-PB-08-1306, 031B1063A
Contract period: 01.09.2021
- 31.08.2024
Purpose of research: Applied research
Agroforestry represents a land use innovation for agriculture in Germany. However, implementation is still hindered because of a lack of robust scientific data, combined with an inadequate legal framework and lack of experience and information deficits among farmers. In SIGNAL phase 3, our goal is to remove these obstacles by finalizing our comprehensive evaluation of alley-cropping agroforestry and linking science and practice. We will provide the knowledge base for alley cropping to contribute to a more sustainable agriculture in Germany, by assessing the long-term sustainability, detecting suitable environmental settings, best management practices, and evaluating costs and benefits. We will transfer this knowledge to agricultural stakeholders and decision makers. We have organized our research program accordingly into two segments: A) completion of scientific evaluation and B) upscaling, implementation & outreach.
With SIGNAL 3, the existing data sets on biomass yield and quality of above-ground cultivated components will be supplemented by valuable data that have hardly been available in Germany so far. The complete data sets will be published by subproject 3, which is carried out by the Julius Kühn-Institute for Crop and Soil Science, via the BonaRes data center in the form of metadata and thus made available to the scientific community, the agricultural advisory system, political decision-makers and other stakeholders. In the agroforestry system in Wendhausen, fiber nettle stands are established. The above-ground biomass of the fiber nettle has the potential to be utilized as material. Subproject 3 studies the carbon storage potential of the agroforestry system in Wendhausen and can thus provide important data on environmental services of agriculture.
Section overview
Subjects
- Forestry
- Soil science
- Climate Change