Science Minister Boris Rhein has officially opened Hochschule Geisenheim University’s new crop and field laboratory. In future this is where harvested crops will be brought in, scrutinized and tested before being prepared for storage and packed. Hessen’s Ministry for Science and Art is providing around 1.3 million Euros from HEUREKA, its university building program.
Science Minister Boris Rhein: “I am delighted to be able to officially hand over the new building to students and staff in time for the main season. The new facility offers ideal conditions for the research activities of the Department of Pomology which is doing excellent work in the area of sustainable production research.”
The new building in Falterstrasse includes a storage facility for machines and vehicles as well as workspaces and communal areas. Our research staff in the new crop and field lab will be developing processing and harvesting technologies for fruit production, analyzing samples from fruit crop trials and developing storage conditions for different types of fruit.
The main focus is on berries, pomes and drupes: the researchers are currently breeding apples, pears, redcurrants and gooseberries. Based on this work, they are also conducting research into new cultivation systems, the relationship between irrigation and crop yields and the effects of climate change on certain types of fruit.
The new crop and field lab marks another step in the structural expansion of Hochschule Geisenheim University. Planning is also currently well under way for another four new buildings: over the next few years we’ll see a new Beverage Technology building (GTZ), a new Food Safety building, a new Logistics and Sustainability building, as well as a new lecture theater building. Construction work is due to start in 2019.
“The structural expansion of Hochschule Geisenheim University is one of the flagship projects being driven by our latest HEUREKA funding program for higher education building and the ‘Higher Education Pact 2020’ investment program. The new Beverage Technology Center, in particular, will be a cutting-edge building: in future, students will be able to study Sekt and fruit juice production in state-of-the-art facilities and learn all about coffee roasting in the coffee laboratory. Overall we are providing 75 million Euros for the expansion of Hochschule Geisenheim University, thus building on the scientific achievements for which the name ‘Geisenheim’ stands and which have gained it world-wide recognition,” Science Minister Boris Rhein concluded.
