Events
– 2021 –

10th Symposium Plant Protection and Plant Health International – jointly organized by Deutsche Phytomedizinische Gesellschaft e.V. (DPG), Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI), and University of Hohenheim
23rd November, Video Conference

RELAR PGPR – Reunión Latinoamericana de Rizobiología V Conferencia Latinoamericana de Microorganismos Promotores del Crecimiento Vegetal (RELAR PGPR) Meeting
- Smalla K. : Soil microbiome modulation for improved plant growth and health

Industrieverband Agrar – 3. Symposium Biostimulanzien on the 29th of September
- Grosch R. : Können mikrobielle Biostimulanzien Wachstum und Gesundheit von Pflanzen in der landwirtschaftlichen Praxis verbessern?

V CAMAyA – 3. V Argentine Congress of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology
- Smalla K.: Towards a more sustainable agriculture through managing soil microbiomes?

DPST – Deutsche Pflanzenschutztagung
The theme of this year’s Plant Protection Conference was “Healthy plants in responsibility for our world”. The DiControl team was able to present the whole range of aspects of the project to the audience in seven presentations.
Contribution
Virtual agriculture – LET’S PLAY#5 Ecosystem Soil
In the Let’s Play episode, host and streamer André Lampe has Doreen Babin from the Julius Kühn Institute in Braunschweig & Jan Helge Behr from the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) as guests on his virtual farm in “Farming Simulator 19”.
In the episode, Doreen Babin and Jan Helge Behr answer the questions: What influence does intensive agricultural use have on soil properties, the microbial community and the interaction between plants and microorganisms?

DMK – Plant Protection Conference
The Plant Protection Conference of the German Maize Committee took place on July the 14th as an online session. The main topics of the conference were pests and weeds in maize and their effective control.
- Behr J. H. Einfluss von nützlichenMikroorganismen auf die Pflanzengesundheit von Mais und Abhängigkeit von landwirtschaftlichenAnbaumaßnahmen (Presentation)

This year’s BonaRes Community event was held as a virtual meeting on June 16th-17th, 2021
Contribution

FEMS Microbiology Ecology Webinar on Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Microbiomes at the 20th of May
The FEMS Microbiology Ecology Webinar addresses sustainable agriculture by showing the interactions between common crops and their microbiomes. In her presentation, Darin Babin demonstrates how modern sequencing techniques can be used to link rhizomicrobiota assemblages and plant performance.
- Babin, D. Rhizomicrobiota assemblages and plant performance (Presentation)

Industrieverband Agrar, Department of Plant Nutrition and Biostimulants – virtual meeting at the 22nd of April
- Grosch, R. Auswirkungen des pflanzenbaulichen Managements sowie der Anwendung mikrobieller Biokontrollstämme auf Bodengesundheit nachhaltige Pflanzenproduktion. (Presentation)

Annual meeting of the DPG working group – “Biological control of plant diseases“
The DiControl team presented their results of the second phase at the annual meeting of the DPG working group – “Biological Control of Plant Diseases“
Contribution
International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association – virtual meeting at the 17th of March
- Grosch, R. Mikrobielle Inokulantien und ihre Bedeutung im Feld: Erkenntnisse aus Langzeitversuchen im Verbundprojekt DiControl. (Presentation)

Workshop “Innovative Lehrformate” of the Univercity Hohenheim at the 25th of February
Organized by CAAST (Community for applied agricultural sustainability teaching) – Projects in teaching
Participant: Maradtalab N.
– 2020 –

1st Florence ISME Day, Florenz, 18th Dez 2020
- Smalla K. 2020 Microbial biostimulants: rhizocompetence, plant beneficial activity and effects on the indigenous microbial community (Presentation)

The Science Slam-Talks – “Science Slam-Talks im Wissenschaftsjahr 2020/21 – Bioökonomie” – is a project founded by the BMBF to clear up prejudices and to transfer knowledge in the field of bio-economics to a broader audience. During the presentation Dr. Doreen Babin explains how microorganisms form the soil memory and thereby contribute to a healthy soil. In an easy-to-follow and entertaining way she gives insights into recent methodologies and experiments from DiControl. The talk is followed by questions and discussions how this knowledge can contribute to a sustainable agriculture.
Contribution
Microverse I – Microbial and Biomolecular Interactions
The first international symposium “Microverse I – Microbial and Biomolecular Interactions”, organized by the Microverse Cluster and the Collaborative Research Centers ChemBioSys and AquaDiva, brought together national and international scientists to discuss the latest advances in microbial communication, host-microbiome interactions and environmental microbiomes.
Contribution
The first virtual LTE workshop for LTE research methods, standardisation and modelling was conducted at 1st to 2nd of October 2020. The workshop was organized by the Bonares Center for Soil Research, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and aims to exchange experiences about the application of modern standards in LTEs and to derive recommendations for the use of these trials for ecosystem research and modelling. The workshop discussed the requirements for statistical evaluation and data acquisition of LTEs, and methods and selected results of biological, chemical and physical soil parameters will be presented.
Summary of Contribution

The BonaRes Community event was conducted from the 17th to 19th of February 2020 at the KUBUS in Leipzig. The annual status seminar was the second of its kind in the 2nd funding phase of the BonaRes funding initiative.
Contribution

At the IPM 2020, the DiControl project was able to present the current research status of the project at the IGZ trade fair appearance. Through posters and exhibits such as models of plant-microorganism interaction, root windows, microscopy of beneficial microorganisms, and live demonstrations, the DiControl team made visitors aware of the impact of beneficial microorganisms on plant health and their use in sustainable agriculture. The IPM is the leading horticultural trade fair revolves around solutions and innovations in the green sector.
– 2019 –

INIA-JKI organized Workshop in Montevideo
From the 14th to 16th of November 2019 the JKI and its Uruguayan partner INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria) organized an international workshop at Montevideo/Uruguay adjacent to the REDBIO conference. Here the role of soil microbiomes in agro-ecosystems for soil and plant health and the potential for development of more sustainable farming practices were discussed. Unique opportunity were offered to initiate bilateral projects aiming at developing a hypothesis-driven research frameworks. The aim is to better understand the mechanistic effects of agricultural management practices on soil microbiomes and interrelations in agricultural soils residing in different geographic and climatic zones.
Contribution
The main objective of the REDBIO meeting, hosted in Uruguay from the 14th to the 16th of October 2019, was to promote the development and implementation of safe biotechnologies for agricultural development. The goal of this meeting is to maintain food security and the conservation of genetic resources in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Contribution
6th Asian PGPR International Conference
The 6th Asian PGPR international conference was conducted at the 18th to the 21st of August 2019 in Toshkent, Uzbekistan. The Asian PGPR Society for Sustainable Agriculture is a scientific society that was formed in 2009 as a non-profit organization. It aims to enable scientists, researchers, academicians, government groups, students, farmers, and industry personnel to meet and discuss their common interests in teaching, research and commercialization of PGPR.
Contribution
The international conference Rhizosphere 5 took place from the 7th to the 11th of July 2019 in Saskatoon, Canada. All DiControl project partners were represented at this multidisciplinary forum for exchanging innovative ideas and methods for studying the rhizosphere and understanding its complexity and its role in both natural and agricultural ecosystem processes.
Contribution
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is the leading organisation for Earth, planetary and space science research in Europe. The General Assembly 2019 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) was held at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) in Vienna, Austria, from 7–12 April 2019.
Contribution
The 13th Dahlia Greidinger International Symposium 2019
The symposium, held March 4-6 at the Technion in Haifa, Israel, aimed to develop strategies for addressing the challenges of securing global food production under increasing environmental pressures. A particular focus was the preservation of soil fertility under the increasing threat of water scarcity and other ecological and environmental challenges.
Contribution
11th RegioPlant Science Meeting in Hohenheim
- Windisch S., Babin D., Grosch R., Chowdhury S.P., Moradtalab N., Neumann G. 2019. Implications of long-term fertilization management on rhizosphere microbiota and adaptive rhizodeposition in Lactuca sativa. (Poster)

Annual meeting of the DPG working group – “Biological control of plant diseases“
The working group “Biological Control of Plant Diseases” is a part of the German Phytomedical Society and mainly deals with the control of plant diseases by biological management techniques. The annual meeting at the 26th of March 2019 has given working groups from all over Germany the opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss new aspects of biological crop protection. The aim of the working group is to develop strategies for biological control of plant diseases by monitoring the emergence of resistant pathogens and resistance plant breeding, the Identification of pathogen control gaps that can be closed with biological control methods and the search for suitable organisms for biological control of plant diseases.
Contribution

The BonaRes Community event was conducted from the 19th to 21th of February 2019 at the KUBUS in Leipzig. The annual status seminar was the first of its kind in the 2nd funding phase of the BonaRes funding initiative.
Contribution
Colloquium Instituto Clemente Estable 31.1.2019, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Smalla K The rhizosphere microbiome-key for plant health and growth (Presentation)