Awarded: Master's thesis on agroforestry systems

In her Master's thesis at the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, Janika Volkamer investigated agroforestry systems (AFS), which are considered to be one of the most climate-friendly agricultural management methods. However, when these systems are established, a considerable amount of unused agricultural land is created in the tree strips, which was previously farmed and generated income for farmers. In her Master's thesis "Potential of growing special crops in tree strips of agroforestry systems", Janika Volkamer investigated whether and under what circumstances these areas could be put to additional use by growing special crops such as berry bushes, pumpkins or edible mushrooms. As part of a case study for the Werragut organic farm in northern Hesse, she analyzed this using the three pillars of sustainability, i.e. ecological, economic and social criteria. In the second part of her Master's thesis, the Franconian-born researcher drew up an implementation proposal for Werragut based on the crops that scored best in the multi-criteria analysis. The Werragut has already started to implement the results and is planting currants and rhubarb in its tree strips this year on a trial basis.

Since completing her Master's degree, Janika Volkamer has been working as a research assistant in the SALIX AFS project team. The aim of the model and demonstration project is to establish and sustainably produce suitable willow types with specific material and growth characteristics in multifunctional AFS. The willow serves as a high-quality raw material in two ways: the willow wood is used for industrial processing to produce endless willow wood thread and willow wood textile. Salicylates for medicine and cosmetics are extracted from the willow bark. The entire added value of willow wood is analyzed for each player, from cultivation to the highly refined product. The annual harvest of willow guarantees secure income for farmers in the short term and thus increases the incentive for implementation in practice.

Background: 
The BioThesis - Research Prize of the Organic Food Industry - is sponsored by BIOFACH, the Schweisfurth Foundation, the Alliance for Grandchild-Friendly Agriculture and the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank and supported by numerous member companies of the Association of Organic Food Producers (AöL).

Contact
Janika Volkamer
FB Ökologische Agrarwissenschaften, Fachgebiet Betriebswirtschaftslehre
Tel: 05542 981247
Mail: j.volkamer@uni-kassel.de