Alexander Gerfer, CEO of Würth Elektronik, grew up on a farm. From time to time the harvest failed. Today, storms are a comparatively small problem: the lack of grain due to the Ukraine war, periods of drought due to climate change, interrupted supply chains, the growing world population despite dwindling resources… 828 million people are already suffering from hunger – and the trend is rising.
“So many uncontrollable circumstances come together. And the pandemic has shown that we underestimate the exponential growth of problems,” says Gerfer. How their solution could look like was the topic of the SZ economic summit salon in the SZ high-rise building in Munich. “Harvesting the future. What can agriculture do in the fight against hunger and climate change?” Gerfer discussed this with Biotopia Chair Auguste von Bayern, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture Ophelia Nick (Bündnis90/Die Grünen) and Roman Werner vom Venture Lab Food, Agro and Biotech of the Technical University of Munich, which advises start-ups.
Agriculture, as it has been in recent years, is not sustainable. The group agrees on that. But change is difficult when there is war and disaster. Millions of tons of grain are in the port of Odessa, the harvests in the EU are poor because of the drought. For this reason, the European Commission put climate protection on the back burner last Wednesday and extended the derogation for environmental requirements. 1.5 million hectares of land, which should actually promote biodiversity, can be cultivated again. From an ecological point of view, you really can’t afford it.
In Germany, the self-sufficiency rate for vegetables is only 40 percent
Innovative cultivation methods such as vertical farming and indoor farming are just what they need. The extension will be moved indoors and upwards, using vacant buildings. Arable land is free for grain, recultivated areas can remain untouched. Under the protected and controllable conditions, fertilizers and pesticides become superfluous. A large part of the energy can be saved. And it could be even more efficient. Together with biologists and agricultural scientists, Würth has developed what is known as “Horticulture LED Lighting”. The lighting system can imitate sunlight and create light conditions under which plants grow faster and more nutritious.
Spinach contains twice as many secondary substances within eight days, raspberries can be harvested several times a year and tomatoes can also grow in winter. Thanks to these so-called light recipes, more vegetables could also be grown in this country, because the degree of self-sufficiency is only 40 percent.
Regional, healthy and fresh food that uses fewer resources – there’s only one problem: the Germans’ “hostility to innovation”, as Roman Werner calls it. “Many start-up founders are children of farmers. They know the problems and want to solve them.” But they either give up or leave. “The ideas are there, but they fail because of acceptance and bureaucracy.” German science is a leader in the world. Your implementation rather not so.
Political support and social education are needed to change that, says Auguste von Bayern, because: “Informed people are less afraid of change.” The Biotopia life science museum planned in Munich should also contribute to this: get people excited about science and show what we can achieve with it. An ambitious project, just like the German Museum in Munich was for technology a hundred years ago.
But Green Party politician Nick doubts that innovations alone are the solution. “There is enough food in the world. We just have to think about what we do with it.” So a change of heart: Less food waste, less grain for livestock – and thus fewer greenhouse gases that drive climate change. “No rules, because nutrition is something very personal,” she emphasizes. But people are ready, as the sales of organic products during the pandemic have shown. “They had time to deal with it.” Now the environment has to follow suit and the canteens and restaurants have to cook more consciously.
So will and knowledge seem to be there. Only one thing is missing: sow a spirit of optimism so that change can germinate and thrive.