Overall aim of the joint project INKA BB is to develop sustainable strategies for land, water and health management under the predicted impacts of climate change in the region of Berlin-Brandenburg. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is coordinated by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF).

Within the INKA BB project, the sub-project 14 Agroforestry systems, an alternative land-use system adapted to increasing aridity is conducted at the Chair of Soil Protection and Recultivation. It mainly focuses on the investigation of micro-climatic effects in alley-cropping systems. You can get more information about the INKA BB project at the website of INKA BB.

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Reinhard F. Hüttl, apl. Prof. Dr. Dirk Freese
Laufzeit: 01.05.2009 bis 30.04.2014
Mittelgeber: BMBF
Projektbearbeitung: Annika Badorreck (MSc.), Dr. Ansgar Quinkenstein

The cultivation of woody biomass on arable land is considered as an agricultural low-input system for the production of bioenergy resources. In this context, agroforestry systems that include the production of energy wood represent a land use option, which ensures a sustainable provision of woody biomass and has the potential to produce woody crops together with food or feed on the same field and at the same time.

The objective of this research project is the assessment of agroforestry systems with hedgerows consisting of fast growing trees (also termed as alley cropping) in terms of economic and ecological aspects. Topics like soil protection, soil fertility, water regime, microclimate and biodiversity represent the focal points within the intended investigations concerning abiotic and biotic environmental factors. Basic questions of this sub-project focus on investigating the influence of stripes of woody crops on the carbon and nutrient cycle of the soil and the soil erosion as well as on the groundwater recharge rate and the quality of seepage water of agricultural sites. In this context, the site conditions of the South Brandenburg region will be highlighted. This region is characterised by extensive mining activities and thus provides a high proportion of marginal sites, which might be economically and ecologically substantially enhanced by the establishment of agroforestry systems.

Projektleitung: apl. Prof. Dr. Dirk Freese
Term: 01.04.2012 bis 31.03.2015
Funding organization: Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection
Projekt Management: Agency for Renewable Resources
Funding number: 22000312
Projektbearbeitung: Dr. Christian Böhm, Dipl.-Forstw. Michael Kanzler