Little plants sprout in long rows from a field in Lower Bavaria – however, no potatoes or strawberries grow here, but peanuts, sesame, mung and black-eyed peas. The project of the State Institute for Agriculture (LfL) is a reaction to increasing weather extremes. “We will be farming differently in 30 years’ time,” agricultural engineer Klaus Fleissner is convinced. On the field at the LfL site in Ruhstorf an der Rott (Passau district), small quantities of what could be cultivated extensively in the future thrive.
Prolonged drought is also challenging agriculture in Bavaria. Peanuts, sesame, black cumin and African beans are – to varying degrees – drought tolerant, says Fleissner. He sees good chances of cultivating the plants in Bavaria. Some farmers are already interested. Fleissner hopes to be able to win more.
The expert has experience with warmth-loving plants, after all he lived and worked in Namibia from 1986 to 2007. After completing his studies in Freising-Weihenstephan, he came to the African country for an internship, says the Franconian. Until 1995 he had leased a cattle farm and then worked in the Ministry of Agriculture in Namibia. From 2011 to 2017 he worked for German development cooperation in Cameroon. He now contributes his knowledge to the LfL Institute for Plant Breeding.
Fleissner is already experimenting with peanuts in the third season. In 2021 he sowed seeds for the first time and in the following years planted his own offspring. He currently has varieties from Uzbekistan, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Australia in the bed. The benefit of peanuts? They are taproots, the roots of which reach up to two meters deep into the ground just four weeks after sowing. This means that the roots still reach water when the soil dries up from above due to lack of rain.
However, peanuts need more water than cowpeas and mung beans. These are particularly drought-tolerant protein plants. Their leaves could also be dried and ground as concentrated feed for cattle. “Cowpeas are happy about every day with 30 degrees,” says Fleissner. Rice also needs heat, but also a lot of water. So it can only be used to a limited extent.
The blossom of a peanut plant on a test field near Ruhstorf an der Rott. In view of climate change, the cultivation of field crops will change fundamentally, experts are convinced.
(Photo: Armin Weigel/dpa)
The LfL expert is convinced that agriculture – and with it nutrition – will change significantly in times of climate change. A spokesman for the Bavarian Farmers’ Association (BBV) also says that the cultivation of fruit and vegetables is likely to become more difficult. “The farmers are aware that they have to counteract the climate change that can be felt, and they are doing it.” Farmers are drivers of innovation. They wanted to continue harvesting profitably in the future “so that they could make their contribution to food security”.
The complexity also lies in assessing which crops are better able to withstand warmer temperatures and extreme weather events. Vegetables such as tomatoes, turnips and cucumbers in particular need water in order to grow and develop a good taste. LfL’s Klaus Fleissner agrees: “Maize will become less important, and peas will have problems.” Potatoes, cucumbers and wheat are also affected by severe drought. These crops would probably not disappear in the future, but they would be pushed back.
Old wheat varieties would have had a high drought tolerance. However, according to Fleissner, the wheat has been adapted to local conditions and industry. You would have to adjust the breeds again. And the bean should not only have good chances in view of the weather, but also gain in importance as a meat substitute because of their high protein content.
“Making agriculture climate-proof is a mammoth task,” sums up the expert. The LfL research project “Future Crop” is scheduled to run for three years and is funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture. According to Fleissner, an extension of three years has already been applied for.