Project start: 10.07.2024
Project end: 09.07.2030
Sponsor: Federal Office for Agriculture and Food

This Model- and Demonstrationprojekt aims at testing and demonstrating practical ways of maintaining or even increasing organic matter in apple orchards. Those practices will be scientifically analysed. A particular focus is on permanent organic matter. This will increase soil health, plant growth and plant health as well as by increasing C-storage in the soil and thereby contgribute to a climate neutral management of apple orchards. The focus is on the one hand side on the phase of uprooting, clearing and planting a new orchard as well as measures taken during the lifetime of an orchard. Growers will be from both, organic production as well as integrated production system to increase the knowledge exchange. The network of active and interested growers will come from the main production areas in the South of Germany (Lake Constance), North (Niederelbe) and West (Niederrhein to Rheinpfalz). It will show possibilities as well as constaints of a wide range of measures increasing soil organic matter. Through the pilot growers other growers will get inersted and Best-Practice-Measures will become established in commercial growing. Geisenheim University has the overall coordination as well as the regional coordination in the Region West.

Project start: 01.04.2023
Project end: 31.03.2026
Sponsor: , European Commission

More frequent heat and dry spells as a consequence of climate change are even in fruit growing regions with high natural rainfall like the Lake Constance area (800-1300 mm annually) are becoming more frequent. As a consequence, many fruit growers are investing in irrigation equipment. However, scheduling irrigation using a rough guess leads to overirrigation. Also, applied irrigation amounts are often not documented. The aim of the current Interreg porject is an innovative approach to schedule irrigation in a way to only apply the minimally needed additional water amounts. Objective criteria for a resource saving water management shall be established using digital technologies ready to use for the growers.

Project start: 01.04.2023
Project end: 30.09.2026
Sponsor: Federal Office for Agriculture and Food

German apple production is facing a variety of challenges. In order to meet these demands and to promote all forces involved in apple breeding in Germany, an association of institutional breeders and many of the currently existing private breeding initiatives, the Fachgruppe Obstbau im Bundesausschuss Obst und Gemüse and the Fördergemeinschaft Ökologischer Obstbau e.V. (FOEKO) is aspired, which want to face the challenges together. In this project new sources of powdery mildew and scab resistance are to be identified through phenotypic evaluations and genotyping of genetic resources in apple, Breeding cultivars with pyramidized resistance to both pests also using columnar apple cultivars, which allow increased resilience to drought stress, is seen as a way to address the above challenges. The goal is to develop low-cost and easy-to-implement molecular markers: KASP assays that can be combined and used by all partners independently, depending on their own breeding strategy. The implementation of the analyses can then be contracted to independent providers.

Project start: 17.10.2022
Project end: 16.10.2026
Sponsor: European Commission

This proposal aims at understanding the physiological behavior of fruit tree crops in response to drought stress, in different environments, and identifying the best tools to monitor plant water status in real time while allowing growers to precisely schedule irrigation through the adoption of new technologies.More than 50 Research Organisations from 26 countries cooperate, to achieve these goals. Activities will focus on 1) identifying the most useful physiological parameters to quantify drought stress using cost-effective and user-friendly sensor tools; 2) comparing and assessing the performance of existing models to quantify plant water needs under drought, for possible implementation in decision support systems (DSSs); 3) defining the most effective (deficit) irrigation strategies for different crops and environments and 4) identifying gaps for improving existing DSSs based on the knowledge generated by the network, while taking actions to facilitate their diffusion among stakeholders and adoption by end-users.

Project start: 16.03.2020
Project end: 15.05.2023
Sponsor: Federal Office for Agriculture and Food

The project "Apple4.NULL" aims to improve the sustainability of German apple production through automation and digital technologies. To this end, a network of non-destructive sensors will be set up to use data for targeted model-based control of various processes in apple production and storage. In addition to seasonal weather conditions, the most important factors influencing fruit quality and storage life, during the pre- and post-harvest periods, can be monitored with sensors. Control mechanisms and modelling related to water usage and fruit stress will be developed and the management of the orchard and storage adapted accordingly. In the "Apple4.NULL" orchard, the sprayer will be equipped with a digital assistant to optimise plant protection product usage, to reduce spray drift and access weather data and GIS information with the legal spray boundary requirements. The sprayer will use LiDAR sensor technology to assess the tree canopies. Existing sensors controlling CA storage rooms will be enhanced with intelligent defrosting algorithms for the refrigeration system. In storage changes in fruit quality will be continuously monitored and storage systems controlled via an intuitive software interface that will also enable other partners in the fruit value chain to access information. New technologies developed in the project will be directly implemented in commercial fruit growing practice via a number of industry project partners. Our focus will be on the integration of irrigation management in the decision support system.

Project start: 01.02.2019
Project end: 31.12.2023
Sponsor: European Commission, Hessisches Ministerium für Landwirtschaft und Umwelt, Weinbau, Forsten, Jagd und Heimat

The main aim of this very applied project is to increase the proportion of regionally produced apples for cider production in the state of Hessia. The regional fruit juice companies are supporting new plantations, especially meadow orchards, and their management with a divers range of measures. However, the delivery of apples for juice prodcution is decreasing constantly. This is in contrast to the consumers wish for more regional products. Currently, only 20% of the total demand by the companies comes from regional meadow orchards. In order to increase this, commercial apple production for fruit juice and cider shall be introduced in Hessia. For this, the project should define the requirements for a commercially successful production of high quality apples for fruit juice production. A map to identify possible production areas in Hessia is to be produced. Aspects of biodiversity and landscape development are to be included. By this new growers should have a good basis for a decision towards developing new plantations. In addition, commercial plantations shall be evaluated against tradtional meadow orchards.

Project start: 01.06.2018
Project end: 31.01.2021
Sponsor: Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Project start: 01.08.2017
Project end: 30.06.2020
Sponsor: Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology

Climate change effects may foster the development of new pests of high societal importance in the state of Hessia (Klimaschutzkonzept Hessen 2012). However, in some cases the developmental rate may also be greatly reduced. Own research suggests that the developmental rate of two insect species of high medical and economical relevance, the asian bush mosquito (Aedes japonicus japonicus) and the spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii), may be largely reduced or even stopped under conditions of high summer temperature. This may result in a largely reduced damage or risk of infection. However, the effects of a changing climate and temperature regime on population dynamics of the asian bush mosquito and the spotted wing drosophila are largely unknown. In this project we will identify frequency, length and regions in the state of Hessia with a higher or lower risk of a high population build up of these two insect species using phenological modelling in combination with climate change scenario ensembles.The parallel project PEST will deliver data on the effects of daily temperature variations and extreme weather situations on the development of the two insect species to allow an improved phenological modelling approach. The synergy between the two projects will allow a realistic estimate as a basis for the respective governmental agencies in Hessia.

Project start: 01.11.2016
Project end: 31.10.2019
Sponsor: Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture

The aim of the planned project is to accomplish an early and reliable selection of growth types of the columnar apple, that are best suited for commercial growing systems, on very young plants from crossings. To achieve this, a combination of a few molecular markers will be identified. In combination with other already known markers such as the one for the typical apple aroma (Rowan et al., 2009; Souleyre et al., 2014) an early selection system for the combination of valuable traits including the growth habit of the future trees will be established. To further develop the early selection system, a fast breeding approach will be adopted to allow for a very efficient development of new varieties for the growers. This will allow for a fast introduction of an effective and economically sound production system for a regional production of cider apples for the fruit juice industry. The very effective production system will allow for a production where both, grower and juice industry, work on an economically feasible basis providing income opportunities for both sides.