KU Leuven university opens high-tech greenhouse complex for innovative plant research
On Friday, KU Leuven university opened in Heverlee a new high-tech greenhouse complex for plant research and education. The 3,360-square-metre facility is designed to strengthen research into more sustainable crop production and crop protection, and also offers new opportunities for collaboration with industry and research institutions.
The complex comprises 34 separate compartments, each with its own climate control system for temperature, humidity, irrigation and lighting. This allows researchers to study a wide range of crops, from strawberries and bananas to pears and chicory, under controlled conditions. Four compartments can be completely darkened to manipulate flowering processes, amongst other things.
In addition, the greenhouse has biosafety level G2, enabling research with genetically modified plants and pathogens such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. Four compartments function as top-level quarantine units (G2Q) for research into harmful quarantine organisms.
According to professor of Bioscience Engineering Barbara De Coninck, such research is becoming increasingly important due to the growing spread of pests and diseases via international trade and climate change. “Thanks to these quarantine units, we can study the interaction between plants and new or regulated organisms under strictly controlled and safe conditions,” she explained.
Sustainability was also a key focus during construction. The greenhouse complex operates fossil-free thanks to heat pumps, solar panels and green electricity. The water supply is largely provided by rainwater collected in a 1,700-cubic-metre pond.
The project was realised with financial support from the Flemish government.
#FlandersNewsService | Official opening of a state-of-the-art greenhouse complex of KU Leuven university in Heverlee © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM + © BELGA VIDEO SARAH VAN HECKE
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