The demand for high-quality medicinal and aromatic plants is steadily increasing. However, in many cases quality of plant material, which very often is imported, does not meet the standards because of the high variation of active ingredients. Besides, in field production frequently pesticides need to be applied, which may cause problems for subsequent use of plant material due to pesticide residues. In this case, protected cultivation may be a profitable alternative. To achieve this goal, it is necessary, to increase the content of valuable ingredients by appropriate cultivation techniques in order to assure a constantly higher product quality and an appropriate economical value. In our project this will be accomplished on basis of chain management processes starting with the development of automatized cultivation systems, which will be integrated in a practical new greenhouse compartment (project phase I: infrastructure for reproducible cultivation methods). Then optimization of cultivation techniques under practice-related conditions and transfer to practice is being intended (project phase II: establishing and optimizing production procedures). In parallel to this process, potential partners from private industry are integrated in the project consortium, in order to proof economical usability of the cultivated commodities (Science-to-Business-concept of AgroHort).

Primary Objectives of the project:
• Development of automatized, non-invasive measurement devices for evaluation of plant quality
• Elaboration of efficient analytical methods for quality assurance and quality evaluation (QS)
• overcoming specific problems in protected cultivation by precision cultivation techniques employing automated phenotyping of plant individuals under defined environmental conditions
• UV-/PAR irradiation and its optimal ratio for development and quality of plants
• exploiting potential of plant surface characteristics (e.g. glandular trichomes as preferential sites of monoterpenoid synthesis and accumulation)
• studies for exploitation of new promising cultivars characterized by a higher economical and qualitative value as compared to traditional cultivars grown in the field
• Elaboration of specific recommendations for plant cultivation, which through close interaction of science and business allow a direct transfer of knowledge via extension services to private industry.

Bearbeitung
    FZJ: Dr. Ingar Janzik, Prof. Ulrich Schurr, Prof. Andreas Ulbrich, INRES: Prof. Georg Noga, Dr. Michaela Schmitz-Eiberger, Dr. Christa Lankes, Dr. Mauricio Hunsche DLR: Dr. Ulrike Gossen, Dr. Karl Schockert
Partner
    FZJ: Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institut Phytosphäre (ICG 3)
    INRES: University of Bonn, Institute for Crop Sciences and Resource Conservation
    DLR: Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum „Rheinpfalz“
Laufzeit
    07/2009 – 06/2012
Finanzierung
    Ministry for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of Northrhine-Westfalia
Kontakt
    i.janzik@fz-juelich.de for Jülich, NogaG@uni-bonn.de for Bonn, Karl.Schockert@dlr.rlp.de for DLR-RP