International competition

“Aschanti kings” reap success for their pioneering spirit

The quality is right: However, numerous series of tests with this unusual plant were required before this could happen.(Bild: neuland.bio)

With the idea of growing peanuts in the driest region of Lower Austria, the young farmers Stefan and Roman Romstorfer made a name for themselves after an initial start. Entering the market, which is dominated by China, was a risk - which is also reflected in numerous awards. After a domestic award, they are now heading to Berlin.

They were ahead of their time: Stefan and Roman Romstorfer actually had a classic Weinviertel business like any other. However, seven years ago they realized that a change in the climate should, if not must, be accompanied by a rethink in agriculture. After tentative (field) trials with various peanut plants, the two soon found the right variety. Breaking completely new ground here turned out to be a hard but correct path: Initially with partly self-built machines and a lot of manual labor during the harvest, three partner farmers are now on board.

Adaptation to the climate in the agricultural sector has been rewarded
It is not surprising that the Aschanti farmers have now won first place in the Vifzack competition out of 89 submissions: the jury does not look for completely new ideas in agriculture, but rather brings to the fore those who have changed their business in order to adapt and develop further.

It goes without saying that they won in the climate adaptation category. Next week, the organic farmers will go one step higher: they will face the Ceres Award in Berlin, where they have already been ranked among the top 3. Fingers crossed for our "Aschanti kings" . . .