With FarmImpact we are developing a technologically optimized portfolio of preventive measures for "Climate Smart Agriculture" in an implementation project with local farmers, fruit growers and wine growers and providing them with the necessary knowledge to achieve the key challenges described above. The focus here is on the farm level. The cornerstones of the FarmImpact project are:
Design of a water-efficient agricultural practice to improve the water consumption of crop plants by windbreak hedges, including improved tree selection and a technological part for predicting irrigation needs.
Increase of soil fertility, reduction of soil erosion and additional ecosystem services through integrated measures in the landscape (windbreaks, ecological support zones, land management).
What are the possibilities to increase water use efficiency apart from windbreak hedges and how can they be implemented? In particular, improved water supply management in combination with online measurements in situ and remote sensing data will be tested.
Increasing economic resilience at the operational level through an integrative agro-technical concept: reducing water consumption, increasing plant productivity through improved water use efficiency and achieving greater energy self-sufficiency through bioenergy and the installation of photovoltaic systems (PV) including battery storage systems. The energy aspect is an additional model study and not part of the R&D work packages. If feasible, establishment of a joint venture company in South Africa as a system provider of the water and energy efficiency concept and licensor of the technological software product for individual farms and agricultural associations.