"Fraunhofer doesn't rely on crazy ideas": Aiwanger appraises new facility at Freisinger Institute

Created: 07/31/2022, 07:00

Bavaria's Economics Minister (centre) and FW Member of Parliament Benno Zierer (right) were given a tour of the research center by (from left) Albert Heuberger, Normann Uhlmann, Jens-Peter Majschak and Stefan Gerth from Fraunhofer.

© Lehmann

A new Fraunhofer Center in Freising focuses on agriculture.

Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger took a closer look at this.

Freising

– Generating added value for agriculture with technological innovations: That is the goal of the newly founded Fraunhofer Center Freising for Biogenic Value Creation and Smart Farming.

Because the future of agriculture will increasingly come into focus, the Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger also got an idea of ​​the latest innovations at the kick-off event on Thursday - such as plant-based milk, vegan minced meat and chips made from fruit.

His judgment of taste was quite mixed.

Of course, there is still financial support from the Free State.

"I'm surprised it doesn't already exist"

Aiwanger was enthusiastic about the fruit crisps, which are made from overripe fruit that would otherwise no longer be sold.

With a process specially devised in Freising, fruit pulp is dehydrated without risking any loss of taste, explains Stefan Gerth.

In this way, food losses could be significantly reduced and at the same time the added value could be increased through new, high-quality foods.

Another advantage: Farmers could participate in the processing and direct sale of these products and thus develop new business models.

"It tastes great - I'm just surprised it doesn't already exist," said Aiwanger.

In fact, the Fraunhofer has been working on it for around ten years, the only thing missing is the step onto the market.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

A lot of research is also being done on plant-based meat substitutes.

Aiwanger was hesitant: “This plant-based patty is not yet a treat.

You just notice that the fat is missing.” His suggestion: maybe only 95 percent vegetarian and fill up the rest with animal fats.

In fact, this is a consideration and in other countries also practice for so-called flexitarians, i.e. flexible vegetarians who eat little and only very consciously meat.

What Aiwanger also saw during his one-hour flying visit: the new seed analysis using X-ray technology, with which seeds are examined with regard to size and segmentation.

This is important for plant monitoring to ensure security of supply in times of climate change.

The new center as a “lighthouse project”

In order to gain better knowledge of the nutrient and water content of the soil in agriculture, the scientists would like to measure the vital data directly on the plants - with sensors on living leaves.

Another advantage of these sensors: pest infestation could be detected and treated very early.

In general: According to the Director of Research at the Fraunhofer Society, Raoul Klinger, the Fraunhofer Center is very concerned about the topic of appreciation and sustainable agriculture - also because the topic is "more topical than ever" and the new center is therefore a "flagship project".

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For Aiwanger, it is therefore fundamental in this regard to bring practitioners and theorists together - and this, of course, requires financial resources.

"It is well known that the Fraunhofer does not rely on any crazy ideas," emphasized Aiwanger and continued: "That's why the money is in good hands here." What he meant by that: 20 million euros in funding for the new center, which in the field of sustainable agriculture " play at the forefront".

You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.