Revolu­tion in Food and Bio­mass Pro­duc­tion High-tech strategy for a sus­tain­able bio­mass supply

Today’s glob­al agri­cul­ture has a bad repu­ta­tion, it is often con­sidered a prob­lem rather than a solu­tion. Deser­ti­fic­a­tion and loss of fer­tile soils, over-fer­til­iz­a­tion and eutroph­ic­a­tion of soil and water pose high risks to biod­iversity con­ser­va­tion and the food secur­ity for bil­lions of people. Extens­ive pesti­cide use with strong envir­on­ment­al impacts dam­age insect pop­u­la­tion and cause the death of bees. Mass live­stock farm­ing leads to sick anim­als whose medi­cines also bur­den humans. Agri­cul­ture is one of the biggest sources of green­house gas emis­sions. It can­not go on like this. The good news is that research and industry are work­ing on solu­tions – we are on the brink of a high-tech revolu­tion in pro­duc­tion of food, feed and bio­mass in the future. The goals are to achieve sig­ni­fic­antly less resource con­sump­tion at more out­put, which would mean to strongly increase resource effi­ciency. In par­al­lel, the neg­at­ive impacts on eco­sys­tems need to be min­im­ized – human cul­tiv­a­tion needs to find a new har­mo­ni­ous way to co-exist with nature. Engin­eers and research­ers from all over the world are devel­op­ing new applic­a­tions and revolu­tion­ary tech­no­lo­gies that tackle the men­tioned prob­lems of agri­cul­ture, forestry, aquacul­ture and mari­cul­ture from all sides. The new con­fer­ence ​“Revolu­tion in Food and Bio­mass Pro­duc­tion” (www​.refab​.info) will show­case lead­ing solu­tion approaches from the wide range of the fol­low­ing top­ics: For the first time in his­tory, we under­stand in detail how a healthy soil works, what role bac­teria and fungi play in the nutri­ent uptake of plants and trees. We know how to achieve healthy and pro­duct­ive soils with bios­tim­u­lants while nitro­gen-fix­ing bac­teria will reduce the use of addi­tion­al nitro­gen. Pre­ci­sion farm­ing with Arti­fi­cial Intel­li­gence (AI), robots and drones can help to fer­til­ise and pro­tect plants more effi­ciently and with lower envir­on­ment­al impacts. Latest gene edit­ing tech­no­lo­gies can improve plant ingredi­ents and make bet­ter use of sol­ar radi­ation with an updated pho­to­syn­thes­is sys­tem. Mari­cul­ture or mar­ine farm­ing is about to become an import­ant sec­tor. This means the cul­tiv­a­tion of mar­ine organ­isms for feed, food and oth­er products in the open ocean and enclosed sec­tions of the ocean, in tanks, ponds or race­ways filled with sea­wa­ter. Forestry will sup­ply a wide range of chem­ic­als and bio-based products in biore­finer­ies, includ­ing envir­on­ment­ally friendly tex­tile fibres. With indoor farm­ing in our kit­chens and ver­tic­al farm­ing on an indus­tri­al scale, healthy food can be pro­duced effi­ciently and loc­ally. Insects, algae and bac­teria can be used to devel­op new sources of pro­tein. Bac­teria can even digest CO₂ to pro­duce feed pro­teins for aquacul­ture. Organ­ic farm­ing as well as small­hold­ers will also strongly bene­fit from many of these new devel­op­ments and increase their effi­ciency while respect­ing their ori­gin­al ideals and prin­ciples. Food and bio­mass pro­duc­tion will be pos­sible even under the most extreme con­di­tions: In dry areas, ​“green­ing the desert” will become real­ity through sol­ar tech­no­logy, deep water or desal­in­a­tion plants as well as hydro­ponics. In the icy north, pro­ductiv­ity can be increased through LED lighted green­houses and some tech­no­lo­gies will even enable food pro­duc­tion in space sta­tions, on the moon and on Mars. The con­fer­ence ​“Revolu­tion in Food and Bio­mass Pro­duc­tion” in Cologne on 1 – 2 Octo­ber 2018 will bring togeth­er all future-ori­ented experts from com­pan­ies, start-ups and research to have a look at the future of food and bio­mass pro­duc­tion. What high-tech strategies are emer­ging on the hori­zon to sus­tain­ably sup­ply a grow­ing world pop­u­la­tion with healthy food – and at the same time provide industry with sus­tain­able bio­mass for envir­on­ment­ally friendly products? The con­fer­ence gives a unique oppor­tun­ity to meet the pion­eers and fore­run­ners of the future of food and bio­mass pro­duc­tion. Please find inform­a­tion on the Call for Papers, spon­sor­ing oppor­tun­it­ies and oth­er import­ant details on the web­site men­tioned below. Don’t miss the revolu­tion, be part of it. Revolu­tion in Food and Bio­mass Pro­duc­tion
1 – 2 Octo­ber 2018
Cologne, Ger­many
www​.refab​.info Source: nova-Insti­tut GmbH