Projects
Strategic Research Programme: Understanding the competitiveness and functional role of microorganisms in fermented food ecosystems Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Quantification of nitrogen, phosphorus and protein flows in the food chain in Flanders: indicators for nutrient efficiency and circularity University of Antwerp
Improving crop production by field management strategies using crop water productivity modeling: Case study of tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) production in Tigray, Ethiopia. KU Leuven
Increasing food production to feed the fast growing world population particularly in developing countries relies on two options: either increase the arable land or improve the productivity of the existing cultivated land. This research focuses on the highly populated highlands ofTigray (northern Ethiopia), where improving the productivity of land isthe only option for sustainable food production. In the drought-prone and highly ...
Extended production cycle in laying hens KU Leuven
Laying hens are kept in production until the age of 75-80 wk, but the actual egg production period is only 55-60 weeks long, as young pullets start producing eggs approximately at 20 wk of age. During a single laying cycle a hen can produce on average 360 eggs. Extending the egg production period and keeping hens longer, possibly until 100 wk of age would not only contribute to increased profitability but also to more sustainable food ...
Ecology, systematics and evolutionary biology of frog blood parasites in northern KwaZulu-Natal KU Leuven
Blood parasites have been recorded in a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, inhabiting both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Until this study, only a few blood parasite surveys had been carried out on frogs in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus information on the diversity of these parasites remained limited. To increase our knowledge of frog blood parasites, a large multi-approach study on the diversity, evolutionary biology, and ...
Integrated control of allium leafminer in leek PCG-Vegetable Research Centre
The main objective of this project is to develop an integrated management strategy for the allium leaf minder in leek. This management strategy is based on the three pillars of Integrated Pest Management (IPM): prevention, monitoring and integration of different control methods. A good and reliable monitoring system is essential in order to prevent the pest from being noticed until it becomes impossible to prevent economic damage, even ...
Towards a knowledge-based approach for an integrated control of Alternaria spp. in potatoes Centre for Applied Research and Extension in Potatoes
After six seasons of intensive monitoring of potato fields, analysis and diagnosis, laboratory, greenhouse and field trials, a good picture of the real Alternaria problem in Flanders was obtained: importance of the pathogen, occurrence of the disease in space and time, influence of weather , crop and cultivation factors. This knowledge forms the solid basis of the decision support system that is widely applied in practice, in order to ...
Successfulintroduction of the cultivation of sweet potatoes in Flanders PCG-Vegetable Research Centre
Model-based active thermography for contactless quality assessment in the agro-food industry KU Leuven
In the agro-food industry, there is an increasing demand for non-destructive quality inspection tools that allow to inspect every individual product. This is the result of an increased focus on food safety and quality over the past decades. Several fast, non-destructive and contactless technologies have been studied for food quality inspection, many of them based on the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the food product. ...