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Deutsche Agrarforschungsallianz

DAFA

Die Vereinigung verfolgt das Ziel, die Leistungsfähigkeit, die Transparenz und die internationale Sichtbarkeit der deutschen Agrarforschung zu verbessern.

Lobbying Activity

Response to European strategy on research and technology infrastructures

13 May 2025

Research infrastructures for agriculture are missing We agree with the assessments presented in the Call for Evidence. We see, however, a need to consider also aspects of how research and innovation infrastructures can contribute to more sustainability in Europe and globally. Food production, processing and consumption contribute to reducing global hunger, but can also cause biodiversity loss, emission of greenhouse gases, and nitrogen losses. A transformation of agriculture to meet sustainability targets is envisioned in President von der Leyens Political Guidelines. This transformation requires research and innovation infrastructure of a kind that does not seem to be covered by the planned strategy. The kind of experimental infrastructure required is related to testing theories on farms under real-life conditions, with farmers and consumers in real landscapes, and testing ways to transform territories to sustainably operating regions (see attached paper or https://www.dafa.de/wp-content/uploads/DAFA-Research-infrastructure-for-agriculture-%E2%80%93-english-2022.pdf). These living labs also need coordination at the European level, experimental clauses in the legal framework for their operation, and regulated access for researchers with the best ideas. This kind of experimental infrastructure is required in addition to infrastructure like livestock barns, agricultural land, indoor-farming buildings, and heavy machinery that has a long lifetime and therefore is costly. This novel kind of infrastructure for a transformation of the agri-food system also needs a corresponding set of criteria for evaluation. In addition to scientific excellence, it must include the expected value for practical applicability and transformation of the agri-food system. Progress on sustainable agriculture that is competitive on a global market will benefit Europe in the wake of accession of larger farming countries and will help the world staying within planetary boundaries. [This opinion has been endorsed by the board of directors of DAFA. It is not based on formal consultation of DAFA members and hence does not necessarily reflect their opinion.]
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Response to Revision of the EU Pollinators Initiative

22 Mar 2022

The Expert Forum for Bees and Agriculture of DAFA (German Agricultural Research Alliance) provides scientific recommendations to actors in politics, research funding and economics concerning how conditions can be improved for honeybees and wild bees and the interactions between bees, beekeeping and agriculture. This should contribute towards maintaining biodiversity, improving yields through optimised pollination performance, and to resilience of the agricultural systems and agricultural ecosystems. The recommendations target three areas of research. Further details are presented in the attached brochure: 1. Bees can only fulfil their role in agroecosystems when they are healthy – Promoting vitality (health, performance, bee fitness) • Create concepts for the promotion of wild bee habitats and food sources for wild and honeybees • Further develop analytical methods for evaluating the effect of plant protectants on honeybees and wild bees, taking into consideration the application techniques 2. Developing agricultural landscapes and cropping systems of the future to benefit abundance, diversity and vitality of the bees • Create practically-oriented improvements in the feeding and living conditions for bees (nesting habitats, food plants) • Design bee-friendly crop production systems using innovative technologies • Raise the economic threshold for the use of plant protectants through technical and agro-ecological innovations • Regenerate agricultural landscapes in model regions to be bee promoting, and investigate the effect of measures at the landscape level 3. Understanding the interactions between agricultural practices and bees and other pollinators, achieving synergies • Develop the level of knowledge concerning the interactions between agriculture, landscape and bees, and in doing so improve the preconditions for synergies • Develop training concepts for government veterinarians, plant protectant advisors, farmers and beekeepers on “bees and agriculture” • Develop and validate the indicators for goal-oriented remuneration approaches for the promotion of pollinator insects in agri-environmental programmes Research structures and communication Basic and applied research should be designed synergistically and incorporate laboratory, semi-field and field trials. The latter should at the same time be designed at the landscape, farmland and regional level, and also include the establishment of model regions. Research projects should enable the existing structures and experts to network with each another and with those working in the field, and in this way, continuously integrate the scientific and the practically-oriented knowledge. Suitable and sufficiently flexible forms of financing should be found for projects with time-demanding topics and/or large project groups. The design and testing of sustainability on a landscape scale, its scientific evaluation and the transfer of findings are new challenges for the scientific community. Economic aspects Competition in the market economy implies that farmers can generally not afford to align their production systems “economically suboptimally” by providing unpaid services for the common good. To this end, suitable measures must be developed, which are legally controllable with justifiable effort, regionally manageable and crop-specific and minimise possible conflicts of aims with those of other agricultural policies and are in the economic interest of farms. Here, research can develop recommendations how European and national support schemes can be adapted to provide incentives for such redesign without causing major operational disadvantages. Reference: „Expert Forum Bees and Agriculture: Researching synergies, developing solutions: A research strategy of the German Agricultural Research Alliance“, 2020. doi: 10.3220/DAFA1587459054000.
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Response to Farm to Fork Strategy

28 Feb 2020

– DAFA supports the proposed roadmap in principle, the overarching approach, and the monitoring of the implementation of the strategy. – We encourage the Commission to express more clearly the implicit ranking of the most vital goals so that decisions about policies, funding and research activities become easier. 1. Ensuring sustainable primary production 2. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions 3. Reducing food waste 4. Reducing inappropriate use of antimicrobials – The aims of the F2F strategy (and the Green Deal) should be specific, measurable and timed. The assessment of the contribution of CAP instruments to the aims should be based on thorough, scientific evidence. Misleading labelling of policy instruments with little steering capacity as contributing to sustainability should be avoided. – Food production should not be implied a priori to include crop, animal, fish production at the same or similar proportions as now in order to provide more flexibility for solutions towards reduction in GHG emissions and more healthy food composition. – The indicated obligation for CAP National Strategic Plans to reflect the ambition of the Green Deal and hence the Farm-to-Fork strategy should be reflected in the corresponding legal texts (including the ranking) so that member states can adjust their strategies and focus on achieving the farm-to-fork goals. – The roadmap is unclear about how global aspects of European food production will be considered. The necessary change of international trade rules to achieve planetary goals should be incorporated. – Suggestions by scientists for a reformed CAP (Pe’er et al. 2019, Science, 02 Aug 2019, Vol. 365, Issue 6452, pp. 449-451, DOI: 10.1126/science.aax3146 and Pe’er et al. 2020, People and Nature, forthcoming) should be used as informative material in the proposed stakeholder consultations 'Advisory Group of the Food Chain' and 'Civil Dialogue Group on the common agricultural policy'.
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Response to Minimising the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products placed on the EU market

6 Feb 2020

The Commission might want to consider in the assessment of impacts also secondary positive impacts in Europe. Potentially higher prices for imported goods might make products produced in Europe more compatible: e.g. animal feed produced from European protein plants, food ingredients produced from European legumes, meat from livestock raised on European permanent grassland.
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Response to Evaluation of the feed additives Regulation

19 Sept 2017

DAFA (German Agricultural Research Alliance) would like to provide feedback in relation to the effects of the additives regulation on research about feed additives. We note that funding of public research on feed additives and correspondingly interest in such research is linked to the potential economic valorisation of that research. Hence rules that restrict or prevent novel feed additives also reduce research and improvement of feed additives, especially in the organic food sector. Here, the production of essential amino acids by organic processes is an urgent need. This has been noted, e.g. in DAFA's research strategy for organic farming and food sector (Hamm et al. 2017: section " Feeding and genetics of the future—a focus on poultry"). The German Council for Bioeconomy, including DAFA members, states this also clearly in their latest bulletin (Bioökonomierat 2017), e.g. (p.5), "Legislative adjustments are necessary are urgently required [for using insect-based food additives]". This concerns the classification of insects as novel food, and across-the-board as livestock, the way they may be fed (alive, dead, processed), the way they may be killed, and the sources of their feed (which excludes organic waste). Algae comprise a wide variety of organisms in shape, size, and requirements. Hence, regulations concerning their cultivation and processing should be more specific and practical. In general, upcycling of organic waste by cultivation of algae, insects, fungi, bacteria and other types of organisms should not be blocked per se but by specific regulations concerning health, safety or welfare conditions." References: Bioökonomierat (German Council on Bioeconomy) 2017. Bioökonomie für eine nachhaltige Ernährung - Lösungsansätze für die Proteinversorgung der Zukunft (Bioeconomy for sustainable nutrition – approaches for the provisioning of protein in the future). BÖRMEMO 06. Available at: http://biooekonomierat.de/fileadmin/Publikationen/empfehlungen/BO__RMEMO_06_final.pdf Hamm U., Häring A.M., Hülsbergen K.-J., Isermeyer F., Lange S., Niggli U., Rahmann G., Horn S. 2017. Research strategy of the German Agricultural Research Alliance (DAFA) for the development of the organic farming and food sector in Germany. Organic Agriculture doi: 10.1007/s13165-017-0187-5
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