Buckwheat - general information about our activities

Buckwheat is an annual plant (Polygonaceae), which is divided into several subspecies. In Europe, two species predominate: common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), which is a cross-pollinator with large flowers and abundant nectar and pollen supply that attracts the insects necessary for pollination, and the tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tartaricum), a self-pollinator with small flowers and small, hard-coated grains. Tartary buckwheat is used more for green manure, while common buckwheat provides the grains for food products.

Buckwheat originally comes from the steppes of higher mountainous countries in Central and East Asia, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. As it can be produced in a similar way to cereals, buckwheat is classed as a pseudo-cereal. However, its name is misleading as it is not related to either beech or wheat. Rather, the name is derived from the shape of the fruit, which looks like beechnut when unhulled, while the dehulled grain resembles a grain of wheat without a ventral furrow.

Until the Second World War, buckwheat cultivation was still widespread in central and northern Germany, but today it is an absolute rarity in German fields. The main producers of buckwheat are currently Russia and China, where buckwheat is an indispensable part of the kitchen.

We are convinced, that buckwheat fits perfect for new crop rotations required for more sustainable agriculture. We have therefore run for four years varietal tests in different cropping systems across several locations in Germany. Based on our findings, buckwheat can widely be grown in Germany with an expected yield of 25-35 dt/ha. As this is quite low compared to spring cereals, we recommend the establishment of a double cropping system using an early ripening buckwheat variety sown end of June after an early harvested winter barley, rye for biogas use, etc. In our trials, this did not affect yield nor thousand kernel mass of early ripening buckwheat varieties as compared with the classical sowing date mid of May and harvest was feasible within September. Unfortenuately, the few buckwheat varieties available in German seed market are late with limited yield potential. Thus, we have initiated a small buckwheat breeding program targetting especially early ripening determined buckwheat.