Department of Agronomy and Crop Physiology
The goal of our research is a sustainable and efficient production of high quality plant products. Our focus is on the adaptation of crops to abiotic stress. This includes climate-related stresses (e.g. drought or heat), which are becoming increasingly important for crop production in the course of global change. In addition, environmental pollution affects plant production, for example in the form of the air pollutant ozone. A third important cause of abiotic stress is mineral imbalances in soils, i.e. deficiencies and toxicities. These stress factors reduce agricultural yields and impair product quality. We look at crop stands at the field level, but we also want to understand basic tolerance mechanisms at the individual plant and molecular level. We consider our scientific approach as translational research, in which we use fundamental scientific advances, for example in plant molecular biology, phenotyping and digitalization, to develop application-oriented solutions and thus contribute to sustainable plant production.
