Tropentag 2025:

General information

The annual interdisciplinary conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management and rural development (Tropentag) is jointly organised by the universities of Berlin, Bonn, Göttingen, Hohenheim, Kassel-Witzenhausen, ZALF e.V. (all Germany), Ghent University (Belgium), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Czech Republic), BOKU Vienna (Austria), and the Council for Tropical and Subtropical Research (ATSAF e.V.) in co-operation with the GIZ Fund International Agricultural Research (FIA).

Tropentag 2025 (TT25) will be organised as a hybrid event by University of Bonn / ZEF, Germany, in cooperation with ATSAF e.V.

We will have an in-person conference, but all oral presentation sessions will be streamed live via our conference app. There will also be in-person poster presentation sessions, pre-conference workshops, and special online presentation sessions.
The call for oral and poster abstracts will start early March; nominating for pre-conference workshops will also be possible.

Preliminary overview of the TT25 program:

• Day 1 (Tuesday, Sept 9th) – Pre-conference Workshops
• Day 2 (Wednesday, Sept 10th) – Pre-conference workshops, Opening (1 pm CEST), Keynote session, fiat panis session, Parallel thematic oral sessions, Apéro social evening
• Day 3 (Thursday, Sept 11th) – Poster and online sessions, Parallel thematic oral sessions, Conference dinner
• Day 4 (Friday, Sept 12th) – Poster and online sessions, Plenary keynote session, Closing (around 2 pm CEST)

The organisers will ensure that TT25 attendees can interact with the presenters, chairs- and participants. All MSc and PhD students, scientists, extension workers, decision-makers and policy-makers interested in natural resources management, agricultural research, and rural development in transition and developing countries are cordially invited to attend and actively contribute. We encourage early stage researchers (MSc and PhD students) to participate.

Target of the conference

The Tropentag is a development-oriented trans- and interdisciplinary conference. Following the long tradition of Tropentag, we want to encourage participants of TT25 to explore the conference's overarching aim of exploring opportunities for managing natural resources sustainably and improving the quality of life for all individuals and communities.
TT25 addresses broad issues of transformation in agriculture and agroecology, livestock, food sovereignty, forestry, water and environment, socio-ecology, gender equality, and related social sciences in the context of rural development, sustainable natural resources management, and poverty alleviation worldwide.

The Tropentag 2025 conference theme

Reconciling land system changes with planetary health

Agriculture is at the center of global land-use changes, shaping rural livelihoods, food production, and environmental sustainability. As population growth, urbanisation, and climate change increase pressure on land and natural resources, balancing agricultural development with planetary health is more critical than ever. Reconciling land system changes with planetary health means ensuring that agricultural expansion, intensification, and transformation con-tribute to food security and economic growth while maintaining soil fertility, water availability, and eco-system functions.

Tropentag 2025 will explore how agricultural systems can adapt to global challenges while ensuring sus-tainable land use. Discussions will focus on balancing productivity and conservation, improving soil and water management, and integrating livestock, crops, and agroforestry into resilient farming landscapes. The conference will also examine the role of policies, market mechanisms, and knowledge transfer in fostering land-use systems that support both human and planetary health.

Emphasis will be placed on gender equity and social inclusion, recognizing the crucial role of women, youth, and marginalised communities in shaping the future of agriculture and land management. By focusing on innovative practices, knowledge-based decision-making, and inclusive governance, the conference will highlight pathways to resilient and sustainable agricultural landscapes.

Key thematic areas include:

1. Resilient Crop & Livestock Systems: Enhancing crop and livestock productivity through optimized management, breeding, and climate-smart agriculture. Addressing biotic (pests, diseas-es) and abiotic (drought, salinity) stresses to improve resilience and resource efficiency.
2. Soil, Water & Biodiversity: Strengthening soil fertility, water management, and agricultural biodiversity. Applying nature-based so-lutions for soil conservation, water retention, and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.
3. Land Use, Forestry & Agroecology: Optimizing land management and farming systems through regenerative agriculture, sustainable forestry, and agroecological approaches. Balancing productivity, soil health, and ecosystem functions to enhance long-term agricultural and forest sustainability.
4. Food Systems & Nutrition: Improving food quality, safety, and biofortification while ensuring seed system sustainability. Strength-ening nutrition-sensitive agricultural value chains for healthier diets and resilient food systems.
5. Markets, Economics & Science Policy:Understanding farmer decision-making, risk man-agement, and innovation adoption. Co-design of poli-cies and market mechanisms that support climate-resilient agriculture while ensuring economic viability.
6. Social Learning & Governance: Promoting knowledge transfer, participatory govern-ance, and institutional change. Addressing land ten-ure security, gender equity, and access to resources to support inclusive agricultural transitions.
7. Technology & Agricultural Innovation: Leveraging artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and smart farming for better decision-making and re-source efficiency. Advancing biotechnology and pre-cision agriculture to enhance productivity with mini-mal environmental impact.

Keynote speakers

N.N.

Foundation fiat panis award session

On the occasion of this conference a special session will be devoted to the presentation of the "Hans H. Ruthenberg-Graduate-Award" by the Foundation fiat panis, Ulm.

Oral and poster presentations

The oral presentations of the Tropentag 2025 will be organised in four sessions, with each seven parallel thematic groups.
Posters will be presented in parallel guided poster sessions (in-person)on Thursday September 11 between 08:30 and 10:00 h, and between 17:15 and 18:45 h, as well as on Friday September 12 between 09:00 and 10:30 h.
Parallel to the in-person poster sessions, special online-only presentation sessions will be organised.
The exact time frame of these sessions will be communicated after selection of the submitted abstracts. Abstracts can be submitted until 3 May 2025 via our submission portal.

Pre-conference workshops

Organise your own Workshop

We offer you the opportunity to organise your own workshop, tailored to your target audience. The idea is that you either network around a specific topic or offer capacity building and task forces for projects and follow your initiative. The only condition is that your topic should be related to tropical agriculture in a broader sense. The workshops will take place on Tuesday September 9, 2025 from 13:00 to 18:00 h, or Wednesday September 10, from 08:30 to 11:30 h.

If you are interested you need to apply and describe the aim and topic of the workshop using the following template. Fill in the template and send it to infotropentag.de no later than 3 May, 2025.

You will receive your application feedback by June 10th. In case of approval, details such as room allocation, further logistics and potential additional services will be discussed individually with the Tropentag secretariat.

The complete workshop plan with contact addresses will be made available on our website.

Conference fee

Especially for a hybrid Tropentag conference, registration fees are required to pay for software and the organisation of the sessions. For those attending in-person, the fee includes a conference bag, and refreshments during the conference breaks. The fee does not include accommodation, lunches or the conference dinner. In-person participants can purchase the book of abstracts for ten euros only. The conference fee and payment conditions can be found here.

Organising committee of the Tropentag 2025 conference

• Prof. Dr. Christian Borgemeister
  University of Bonn, Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Mathias Becker
  University of Bonn, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), Bonn, Germany

• Jan Henning Sommer
  University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn, Germany
  Contact: Send Email

• dr. ir. Eric Tielkes
  DITSL Witzenhausen, Germany
Contact: info@tropentag.de