Professorship for Vegetable Crops

Research activities of the Zinkernagel's Lab focus on the identification of plant-environment interactions in the context of vegetable cropping systems. Physiological processes in the plant as a function of water, nutrients and CO2 are in the center of attention. On the subject of smart farming, model and sensor-based methods for irrigation scheduling are being developed. Plant responses to supply status are examined on the basis of plant and environmental parameters through non-destructive, robust proxy sensing systems for greenhouse crops as well as open field cultivation. The results are analyzed using artificial intelligence to generate resource-efficient and powerful decision support systems through reducing complexity. The importance is raising with the impact of climate change, which is explored through simulation and experimental data collection for vegetable production systems.