Use of Peat-reduced Growing Media in Ornamental Plant Production – Accompanying Business Management Project (TerZ-BWL)
As part of the Climate Protection Plan 2050, the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft, BMEL) is funding the nationwide model and demonstration project "TerZ - Use of Peat-reduced Growing Media in Ornamental Plant Production". The Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt fürLandwirtschaft und Ernährung, BLE) is the project management agency.
TerZ - Model and Demonstration Project
The TerZ project consortium consists of five renowned German research institutions, namely:
The Education and Research Institute for Horticulture Hanover-Ahlem (northern Germany), the Horticulture Trials Centre Straelen/Cologne-Auweiler (western Germany), the Saxon State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology (eastern Germany), the Education and Research Institute for Horticulture Heidelberg (southwestern Germany) and the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan Triesdorf (southern Germany). All project partners bring with them many years of experience in the use of peat-reduced growing media.24 nurseries are participating in the project. Due to their differences in structure and size, these nurseries represent a broad cross-section of German ornamental plant production businesses. They are located all over Germany and thus provide a comprehensive picture of the ornamental sector in different locations in Germany. For project purposes, each nursery is assigned to one of the five project regions (north, east, west, southwest, south).
In each project region, a project-related regional coordinater is there to assist the growers in their efforts to achieve a successful change to peat-reduced growing media. The overall objective of the TerZ project is reducing the peat content in the growing media to 50% or less. Depending on plant variety and nursery, this will be implemented in a process of gradual peat reduction of major or minor steps. The project is scheduled to run for four years.
Accompanying Business Management Project
In addition to the assistance by the regional coordinators adressing the challenges as to plant growth and plant quality, business topics related to the cultivation in peat-reduced media are considered in TerZ as well. This accompanying business management project (TerZ-BWL) is carried out by the Institute of Horticulture (IGB) of the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf (HSWT) (IGB team).
The primary objective of TerZ-BWL, the accompanying business management project in TerZ, was to provide an assessment of the economic effects of a change to highly peat-reduced growing media in ornamental plant production, based on current production processes in the ornamental sector. However, in order to accomplish this, a particular challenge for TerZ-BWL was to obtain comprehensive data for the reliable calculation of economic results of ornamental plants in different types of growing media.
With TerZ-BWL it was possible to record the relevant economic data of more than 400 cultivation and production processes in ornamental plant production during a period of two years. This allowed the comparison between a plant produced in an initial growing media with a higher peat content, to the same plant in a peat-reduced growing media in almost 200 cases. For these cases the salient economic result variables (plant productivity and lower price limits) were calculated. The subsequent evaluations and analyses clearly pointed to plant security (i.e. low losses, maximum sale of the product, no extension of the production period) as being economically essential when changing to a highly peat-reduced growing (see "TerZ-BWL - Business Management Project" and "TerZ-BWL - Peat Reduction & Cultivation Costs" at: www.projekt-terz.de/terz-bwl).
In addition to that and as a consequence of the remarkable variation in plant production data and economic results - even with one and the same plant – it became obvious how essential it is to calculate for each grower individually the costs and benefits that may result from a change to highly peat-reduced growing media. In order to take into account the enormous range of plant characteristics, individual production and cultivation systems in ornamental plant production, the easy-to-use plant cost calculation and simulation tool K.basic was designed. K.basic allows a grower-specific consideration of different cost scenarios for all pot plant growers interested in a change of growing media.
Further project modules
Overall project coordination and public relations issues are handled by the Education and Research Institute for Horticulture Hanover-Ahlem of the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture.
Furthermore, the Institute for Horticulture of the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf with its modern laboratory facilities is in charge, for all growers in all five regions, of analysing the growing media of the participating nurseries.
Finally, in order to enable a continuous transfer of knowledge and the sharing of experiences among participating growers and institutions, the Education and Research Institute for Horticulture Heidelberg, with its particular competences and know-how as to digital platforms like, e.g. OLAT, is responsible for this part of the project.
Further information around TerZ
Publications
Lead of collaborative projects (external)
Partners
Adressierte SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
