A greenhouse complex that used to belong to BASF has deepen possessor . The complex is now owned by VIB , with ILVO as a strategical spouse , and with financial support from the Flemish government . It will serve as an ' Agro - Incubator ' .
The high - tech facility will make its resource and knowledge available to factory farm and researchers to build sustainable agricultural applications together . Vice Minister - President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Innovation and Agriculture Hilde Crevits opened the research glasshouse and pilot infrastructure for plant research .
Automatic phenotypingThe VIB Agro - Incubator has many installation for crop research . The nursery are equipped with an induction for assure growth of dissimilar types of craw and simultaneous monitoring of their ontogenesis . Among other things , scientist can determine the light and watering condition under which the plants grow , and cameras and measure machine are used to calculate agronomically important argument such as ejaculate production .
On - land site research laboratory allow these observation to be linked to molecular entropy , create a elaborate insight into how flora adapt their maturation under changing conditions . Moreover , the neighboring area is usable for field trials to confirm findings from the research lab and the greenhouse .
Collaboration between VIB and ILVOThe VIB Agro - Incubator is locate on the former CropDesign website ( BASF ) and is being fully modernize by VIB with the support of the Flemish government , in consultation with ILVO , the Flemish Institute for Agricultural , Fisheries and Food Research . Both institutes will lead the site with their expertise .
inquiry for climate - proof agricultureThe complete substructure give up researcher to try out how a plant reacts to , for example , long menstruation of drouth , and how the plant can become more resistant to this . For object lesson , there is currently a quislingism between VIB and the Meise Botanical Garden to gather information on the drought tolerance of beans . In the partnership , about 200 miscellany of untamed bean are tested for drought underground . By combining observations of flora growth under different watering regimes with molecular data point , the researchers will learn which cistron in the plant deoxyribonucleic acid are responsible for drought resistance . Once the underlie mechanisms of industrial plant growth under drought conditions have been ravel , the findings can be translated to other intellectual nourishment crop , such as soya or maize , and kick in to climate - sustainable solutions .
First collaborations with company are a factOne of the facility ’s primal partners is Inari Agriculture , a growing AgTech start - up focusing on bionomic solutions to increase crop output for a more sustainable food scheme . Inari obtain the 2020 Newcomer of the Year prize from Flanders Investment & Trade for their accelerated method of develop gamy - take crop that require less fertilizer and water . expert from the company employ the greenhouse of the VIB Agro - Incubator to turn and study plants educate in the troupe ’s Ghent R&D facility .
" We know that VIB is as attached to reform the global solid food system as we are at Inari ; this makes them an ideal cooperator , " says Fred van Ex , frailty President of the United States of R&D at Inari and managing director of the Inari facility in Ghent . " To meet the challenging target of the European Union ’s Farm to Fork scheme , close partnerships between the public and individual sector with technologically advanced adeptness are postulate . The combination of Inari SEEDesign engineering science and the VIB Agro - Incubator volunteer just that . "
Strategic locationThe strategic emplacement in the centre of the Flemish agribiotech cluster in Ghent lead to unequaled quislingism between research centers and companies . The common finish is to develop agricultural solutions . Besides projects with well - bed player such as SESVanderHave and Inari , aimed at improving scratch beet and maize cultivation respectively , VIB wants to make the technology and noesis of the Agro - Incubator accessible to start - ups . Providing accommodation and support to young entrepreneurs impart them the opportunity to develop in the flora biotechnology sector . The focus here is more than ever on climate adjustment , crop protection , and innovative , digital farming technologies .
exposure credits : Lander Briels / VIB
For more information : Instituut voor Landbouw-,Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoekwww.ilvo.vlaanderen.be/nl[email protect ]
