On June 27th, the GEOFOOD team visited Wageningen University & Research in Bleiwijk and was presented to the new GEOFOOD research unit that has just been constructed in a 150 m2 greenhouse chamber.
Wageningen Plant Research (Part of Wageningen University & Research) is a private not for profit research institute with experienced personnel (about 600 fte) and specialises in strategic and applied research for industry and public institutions. By integrating knowledge on crop protection, crop ecology, agricultural systems, genetics and reproduction, Wageningen Plant Research serves the entire agro-production chain with scientific products, from the DNA level to production system concepts. Wageningen Plant Research regularly has articles in the leading scientific journals and has a superb research infrastructure. Wageningen UR is responsible for the research as well as the modelled approach of integrating greenhouse production and available energy-saving technologies with aquaculture, total design of the greenhouse and greenhouse equipment.
The GEOFOOD aquaponics research unit has been constructed in a 150 m2 greenhouse chamber in Bleiswijk. The total volume of the RAS is 55 m2 and includes both aerobic and anaerobic digestion tanks. The unit is currently the largest and most modern aquaponics research unit in Europe and provides excellent research possibilities. The unit will also be used to test the recently developed GEOFOOD energy model.
