JKI raised funds for horticultural research
Dr. Georg Backhaus, President of JKI, signed the agreement on 13 Dec 2010 in Berlin (source: WeGa-Kompetenznetz Gartenbau)
18 Jan 2011: 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.
The JKI scientists carry out the following projects:
- Apple breeding: resistance to apple scab, one of the most serious diseases in apple orchards.
- Plant protection: detecting pests and their natural antagonists in Brassica fields as early as possible
- Cauliflower breeding: sequencing genes responsible for the onset of flowering and developing molecular markers for breeding cultivars with a defined cultivation period. For instance, high temperatures have so far resulted in prolonged growth periods.
- Ornamentals: investigating the occurrence and spread of Phytophthora species. Among others, they cause damage in azalea and rhododendron cultivation.
Contact at JKI:
Dr. Martin Hommes
martin.hommes@jki.bund.de
Title of the competence network is WeGa. The German abbreviation stands for value-creation in horticulture (http://www.wega-online.org/ - in German)