Institut für Rebenzüchtung
The “EU Green Deal” increases the demands on agriculture for sustainable production. This will increase the pressure for changes, especially in winegrowing, which in Germany has to use around a third of the fungicides on less than 1% of the agricultural area. One way to reduce the use of fungicides and thus improve sustainability are new grape varieties with resistance properties against the most important fungal pathogens. New varieties are already on the market today as a result of decades of resistance breeding, with savings of 75% the amount of fungicide normally required. In order to further strengthen these resistance properties and make them more durable, knowledge about new resistances is needed that can be made available for breeding. Armenia has not had an own grape breeding program since the 1980s, but there is an interest in making Armenian viticulture more sustainable through own new varieties that are adapted to Armenian conditions. However, the know-how is missing. As part of this project, the JKI's experience is intended to be passed on to the Armenian project partners through targeted workshops. Plant material generated in the workshops will have promising resistance properties and can serve asng point for further joint research projects with the aim of using these resistance properties in breeding. There has been a close cooperation between the JKI and the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia for many years, which previously focused on the preservation of Armenian vine biodiversity. This project is intended to be theng signal for breeding use of this biodiversity.
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
