News in brief:
RYE SELECT accelerates breeding process
The Julius Kühn Institute is partner in a national project that paves the way for genome-based precision breeding in rye. Aim of the RYE SELECT project is to accelerate the genomic selection for traits of agronomic relevance.
JKI hosted international OECD workshop on integrated pest management
In October (16 - 19 Oct 2011), more than 90 participants from 19 countries met at the Julius Kühn Institute in Berlin for discussing achievements and perspectives of an integrated pest management (IPM). This workshop was a follow-up to the OECD workshop of 1998 held in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It reviewed the development since 1998 and regarded IMP requirements in the light of new legislation and new technical developments.
Honorary Doctor for Prof. Kornelia Smalla at SLU Uppsala
At October 8, 2011, Prof. Smalla received one of the honorary doctors from the four faculties at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Uppsala. She gave her lecture titled “Effects of Veterinary Medicines on Soil Bacteria” on October 7, 2011.
The conferment ceremony took place on October 8, 2011, at SLU in Uppsala. Prof. Dr. Smalla is head of a research group at the Julius Kühn Institute and a professor at the University of Braunschweig in Germany. She is one of the leading figures in ecological microbiology. Her research brings together environmental, medical, and plant-production issues.
The lectures of the Honorary Doctors were recorded and will be available via SLU:s website within a week.
Innovative crop protection: start of the EU project PURE
From 2014 onwards, a new EU pesticides legislation making integrated pest management mandatory will be in force (EU directive 2009/128/EU). To facilitate its implementation and to open new roads for an integrated plant protection, the European Commission supports a new project with a 9 Mio. grant.
The project title PURE is short for Pesticide Use-and-risk Reduction in European farming systems with Integrated Pest Management. The four-year project is coordinated by INRA, France, and associates 23 partners from 11 European countries - the Julius Kühn Institute being one of them.
Start of the EU project "HALT AMBROSIA"
The overall aim of the 3-year lasting project is to contribute to the reduction of the prevalence of the invasive alien plant Ambrosia artemisiifolia in European countries in order to reduce the burden on public health, agriculture and biodiversity. In cooperation with institutes in Denmark, Hungary, Austria and Slovenia, strategies to control and eradicate Ambrosia will be developed.
JKI at the Federal Horticultural Show Koblenz 2011 (15 April to 16 October)
JKI scientists are imparting their know-how to a greater public at Germany’s biggest garden festival. Furthermore, JKI researchers are among the conference speakers of the leisure-gardening congress “Future – Garden” (17-19 June) and exhibitors on the Garden Day (19 June).
JKI scientists revise and update Organic Farming Portal
Internet portal www.oekolandbau.de extended with state-of-the-art research on plant protection in organic farming: JKI scientists updated information on pests and beneficial organisms and added a new chapter on medical and herbal plants.
Start of research project: Improvement of drought tolerance in faba bean
With climate change and changes in temperature and precipitation patterns, winter faba beans are gaining importance as an alternative to the spring type.
JKI raised funds for horticultural research
The Julius Kühn Institute contributes four work packages to a competence network funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). A total of €6.1 million is spent on optimizing horticultural production processes; the JKI receives €470,000. Funding is granted for a period of five years, ending in July 2015. Aim of the initiative is enhancing resource efficiency, and quality assurance or improvement in horticultural production.
Lupins let region blossom
07 Dec 2010: Due to light soils, the north-east region in Germany is ideal for lupin cultivation. The Mecklenburg region is a genuine regional cluster as regards indigenous protein crops and corresponding industries. Over the next three years, the region will benefit from a €4.2 million grant allocated to the PlantsProFood initiative. Partners in PlantsProFood are looking for new food ingredients from lupin. Here, researchers of the Julius Kühn Institute are able to make a worthwhile contribution to the program due to their competence in the breeding of grain legumes.
Integrated pest management in Europe
24 November 2010: In Paris, the partners of the ENDURE Network of Excellence signed an agreement that regulates their future co-operation in the field of integrated pest management in Europe.
ClimateFarm investigates climate-optimized strategies of adaptation in agriculture
ClimateFarm shall allow conclusions about efficient strategies of adaptation to climate change. The research project, scheduled for three years, investigates different types of farming under realistic conditions: cash crop farm, livestock farm, and a climate farming model.
The Julius Kühn Institute will provide for one of the two trial sites. For this, the Institute is preparing plots for large-scale field trials in Salzdahlum near Braunschweig. The second site belongs to the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences.