European and national political demands to reduce chemically synthesised plant protection products (csPSM) are to be met with the development of a new, more sustainable agricultural cultivation system. At the same time, this is intended to address society's desire for a diet that is as healthy as possible, as the use of csPSMs is being critically scrutinised and discussed by the public due to possible residues in food and the environment and the associated potential negative effects on biodiversity. At the same time, however, there is also an obligation to ensure an adequate food supply and to guarantee sufficient biomass production overall, which requires the use of mineral fertilisers.

 

By dispensing with csPSM and the targeted use of mineral fertilisers, the aim is to increase biodiversity and maintain soil fertility to produce high biomass yields, while at the same time ensuring that the population is supplied with sufficient quantities of high-quality, affordable food. The NOcsPS 2.0 joint project is not only investigating the prerequisites for this cultivation system and its chances of implementation at various levels. The practical implementation of NOcsPS products in the agribusiness value chains is also being prepared. To this end, a variety of experimental set-ups will be used to test whether NOcsPS cultivation systems can lead to comparatively high ecosystem services with high productivity using state-of-the-art, networked and digital technologies as well as innovative cultivation measures to strengthen plant resilience and take utilisation measures into account.​​​​​​​

 

NOcsPS cultivation systems are developed and analysed at various levels. To this end, system and exact trials on NOcsPS cultivation systems are carried out at different locations at plot and field level in comparison with other cultivation systems. In addition, investigations are carried out at farm and landscape level, but also in real laboratories, in order to be able to make a holistic assessment from an ecological, economic and social perspective.
To this end, the scientists are working on the development and analysis of the NOcsPS cultivation system in an interdisciplinary manner and are transferring their findings on crop cultivation and yield-stabilising technical strategies as well as biodiversity effects to areas such as life cycle assessment or the modelling of phytosanitary and yield-oriented as well as economic decision-making tools. The results are used to assess sustainability and to analyse market potential under real conditions, which serve as a basis for the design and evaluation of implementation options for NOcsPS cultivation systems.

Important disciplines of agricultural science are represented in the network for this holistic assessment: Plant cultivation and plant nutrition, phytomedicine, landscape ecology, agricultural engineering, sustainability assessment, business management and agricultural marketing.
The network receives support from companies in the value chain, as NOcsPS cultivation systems are to be developed and implemented as an interplay of innovative agronomic and technical measures, particularly in the area of smart farming, while at the same time fulfilling the requirements at the processing and marketing level to enable NOcsPS products to be brought to market quickly.