Research • Educate • Connect
Towards a sustainable bioeconomy
Research • Educate • Connect
Towards a sustainable bioeconomy
Photo: Fotolia

Focus Topic Area "Smart Managment of Plant Performance"

Plants have a key position in the establishment of a sustainable bioeconomy. They must provide the basis for healthy nutrition for a growing world population and will also be needed as a renewable raw material basis to replace fossil resources such as crude oil in the future. However, the areas globally available for agriculture can no longer be expanded considerably. The increase in plant biomass production must be realized on the same area and with the least possible environmental impact. For these reasons, intelligent solutions are needed to increase crop yields while protecting the environment. This includes the efficient and economical use of water, nutrients and plant protection products, protection of soils, closing of nutrient cycles and the development of new concepts for plant protection.  At the same time, post-harvest losses such as the rotting of foods must be reduced significantly and plants must be adapted to changing climate and environmental conditions through breeding.

Over the past 15 years, plants that, for example, can use water or nutrients more efficiently or are resistant to pathogens have frequently been bred using the methods of modern plant breeding. Precision farming uses sensors to distribute quantities of fertilizer, pesticides and water that are precisely adapted to the current need within the acreage. Soil scientists are investigating how the composition of microorganisms in the soil influences plant growth and are developing new soil protecting cultivation concepts together with farmers. Land requirements and usage competitions can be minimized by the development and combination of different cultivation systems and technologies for the simultaneous production of energy and plants on one area (agrophotovoltaics). The combination of different approaches and expertise is the key to efficient and environmentally friendly plant production.

Project examples

Photo: iStock

greenRelease - GreenRelease for Plant Health
January 2018 - June 2021

Photo: iStock

C4-PSH - C4 Plant Selective Herbicides: A New Approach to Combat C4 Weeds in Arable Crops
January 2014 - December 2015

Photo: iStock

Algalfertilizer - Algae delivering waste phosphorus to soil and crops
November 2015 - October 2017

Photo: iStock

PrimACs - Priming-Active Compounds for Plant Protection
November 2015 - October 2017

Photo: iStock

P-ENG - Efficient phosphate recovery from agro waste streams by enzyme, strain and process engineering
January 2015 - December 2016

C4-PSH
01/14 – 12/15

C4 plant selective herbicides: a new approach
to combat C4 weeds in arable crops

Biochemical Plant Physiology,
Pharmaceutical and Medical Chemistry (HHU)
Systemic Microbiology, Plant Sciences (FZJ)

 

OrCaCel
07/14 – 09/16

OrganoCat plant & pulping combinations
for the full valorization of lignocellulose
from perennial plants from marginal land

Botany and Molecular Genetics,
Technical Chemistry and Petrochemistry (RWTH)
Plant Sciences (FZJ)

 

EtMeD
08/14 – 07/15

Development of an ethylene measuring device
for ethylene receptor characterization of plants

Biochemical Engineering (RWTH)
Biochemical Plant Physiology (HHU)

 

MisQual
11/14 – 12/15

Genotype and environment as driving factors
for quality of lignocelluloses from Miscanthus
as raw material for industry

Renewable Resources (U Bonn)
Microbial Genetics, Botany and Molecular Genetics (RWTH)

 

GreenGel
11/14 – 12/15

Bifunctional nanogel-based fertilizers for
controlled nutrition of plants

Biotechnology, Functional and Interactive Polymers (RWTH)
Plant Nutrition (U Bonn)

 

LIPANO
01/15 – 12/15

Glucosinolate break-down products as
modifiers of soil fungal lipids, protein profiles
and allelopathy: impacts on nodulation,
mycorrhiza and growth of Fabaceae

Biotechnology of Plants (U Bonn)
Molecular Enzyme Technology (HHU)

 

P-ENG
01/15 – 12/16

Efficient phosphate recovery from
agro waste streams by enzyme,
strain and process engineering

Microbiology, Biotechnology (RWTH)
Systems Biotechnology (FZJ)
Technology and Innovation Management (U Bonn)

 

NovoSurf
04/15 – 03/16

Identification of novel natural
microbial surfactants

Molecular Phytomedicine (U Bonn)
Microbiology (RWTH)

 

BiFuProts
04/15 – 06/17

Bifunctional proteins for plant
protection

Biotechnology, Plant Physiology (RWTH)
Biochemistry I (HHU)
Horticultural Science (U Bonn)

 

PhytaPhoS
04/15 – 03/18

Optimizing the phosphorus cycle in the sugar
beet production process by phytase supplement

Biotechnology (RWTH)
Plant Sciences (FZJ)

 

RIPE
10/15 – 12/17

Ripening delay of climacteric fruits
by peptides

Biochemical Plant Physiology, Pharmaceutical and Medical Chemistry (HHU)
Biotechnology, Functional and Interactive Polymers (RWTH)
Horticultural Science (U Bonn)

 

AlgalFertilizer
11/15 – 10/17

Algae delivering waste phosphorus
to soil and crops

Quantitative and Theoretical Biology , Biochemistry of Plants (HHU)
Plant Sciences, Agrosphere (FZJ)
Soil Sciences (U Bonn)

 

PrimACs
11/15 – 10/17

Priming-active compounds
for plant protection

Plant Physiology, Biochemical Engineering (RWTH)
Bioorganic Chemistry (HHU)

 

InducTomE
11/15 – 12/17

Induction of secondary metabolites in
tomato by-products for extraction and
economic evaluation of the model process

Botany and Molecular Genetics,
Fluid Process Engineering (RWTH)
Plant Sciences (FZJ)
Horticultural Sciences, Technology and Innovation Management (U Bonn)

 

SPREAD
11/15 – 10/18

Silphium perfoliatum – resource evaluation
and development

Developmental and Molecular Biology of Plants (HHU)
Renewable Resources (U Bonn)
Enzyme Process Technology (RWTH)

 

PlaMint
11/15 – 10/18

Investigate plant-microbe interactions
to improve plant health and productivity

Chemical Signalling (U Bonn)
Microbiology (HHU)
Plant Physiology, Botany and Molecular Genetics (RWTH)
Plant Sciences (FZJ)

 

AP3
04/17 – 12/20

Advanced pulping for perennial plants:
a holistic and sustainable integrated
lignocellulose biorefinery concept

Plant Sciences (FZJ)
Botany and Molecular Genetics, Technical Chemistry and Petrochemistry,
Fluid Process Engineering, Process Systems Engineering (RWTH)
Developmental and Molecular Biology of Plants, Plant Cell Biology
and Biotechnology (HHU)
Technology and Innovation Management (U Bonn)

 

greenRelease
01/18 – 06/21

GreenRelease for plant health

Biotechnology, Plant Physiology, Functional
and Interactive Polymers (RWTH)
Technology and Innovation Management, Horticultural Sciences,
Molecular Biology of the Rhizosphere (U Bonn)
Biochemical Plant Physiology, Pharmaceutical and Medical Chemistry (HHU)
Plant Sciences (FZJ)

 

QuantiP
11/18 – 12/19

P-quantification in vivo and in vitro
by Raman spectroscopy and NMR

Biotechnology (RWTH)
Plant Sciences, Analytics (FZJ)

 

iBiomass
11/18 – 12/19

Improve maize biomass for processing
applying OrganoCat technology

Microbiology, Plant Cell Biology and Biotechnology (HHU)
Technical Chemistry and Petrochemistry (RWTH)

 

PepUse
09/19 – 02/21

Peptide adhesion promoters for user
centered plant health applications

Biotechnology (RWTH)
Physical Biology (HHU)
Technology and Innovation Management (U Bonn)

 

TaiLead
08/20 – 10/21

Lead verification of tailored
prodiginine derivatives

Molecular Enzyme Technology (HHU)
Bioorganic Chemistry (HHU)
Molecular Phytomedicine (U Bonn)

NewBIAS
07/22 – 06/25

New Biochars for the Improvement of Agricultural Soils

 

Renewable Resources (U Bonn)
Technologies of Fuels and Operations Management (RWTH)
Analytics, Agrosphere and Plant Sciences (FZJ)

P3roLucas
07/22 – 06/25

Optimization of plant performance and products for lupin cascade use

 

Plant Physiology (RWTH)
Bioinformatics (FZJ)
Bioorganic Chemistry (HHU)
Agricultural and Food Market Research (U Bonn)

ToxPot
01/22 – 12/23

Evaluation of the potential of utilizing potato-side streams for extraction of alkoloids

 

Bioinformatics (FZJ)
Bioorganic Chemistry (HHU)
Molecular Phytomedicine (U Bonn)

ProRNA
02/22 – 01/24

Microbial production and application of dsRNA as innovative bio-agents for new non-chemical crop protection strategies in agri- and horticulture

Systems Biotechnology (FZJ)
Molecular Phytomedicine (U Bonn)

SreenP
02/22 – 01/23

Metabolic burden coupled phytase screening for sustainable phosphate recycling

Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering (RWTH)
Analytics (FZJ)

PREDIG
02/22 – 09/23

Modelling software to predict the enzymatic digestion of biomass

Computational Cell Biology (HHU)
Plant Sciences (FZJ)