2009

14 Dec 2009	Organic sector benefits from better communication on the food safety risks of organic products
	Scientists from Wageningen UR Livestock Research and Plant Research International (both part of Wageningen University and Research Centre) are advocating better communication on the possible food... more
30 Nov 2009	Intensive fungicide use may lead to azole resistance in humans
	A team of scientists from the Netherlands, including Gert Kema of Plant Research International, published an article in the Lancet Infectious Diseases about the relationship between fungicide use in... more
26 Nov 2009	QBOL project publishes lists with sampled species of quarantine organisms
	QBOL is generating barcode sequences for quarantine species and closely related species (look alikes). These barcode sequences will be collected in central and public databases. As a first step QBOL... more
2 Nov 2009	Higher carbon content of the soil increases yield
	"Increasing the carbon content of the soil increases yields." This is the conclusion of Steven Groot, Research Coordinator Organic Propagation Material at Plant Research International, after the... more
22 Oct 2009	Wageningen UR involved in research slippery rails
	The chair groups Plant Physiology and Mathematical and Statistical Methods (Biometris) of Wageningen University have for four years been involved in research into slippery train rails in the... more
23 Sep 2009	Potato Genome Sequence Released by International Group of Scientists
	The Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium (PGSC), an international group of scientists has announced that it has released the first draft sequence of the potato genome. The PGSC started work on the... more
14 Sep 2009	Early detection Opogona now possible
	Pheromone traps available for use in practice Researchers of Wageningen UR have discovered a new sex pheromone for easy and specific detection of infestations and contaminations of the banana borer... more
10 Sep 2009	Genome of potato pathogen sequenced
	Scientists have unravelled the genome of Phytophthora infestans, the pathogen that poses the most serious threat to the world’s potato crop. Nearly one hundred researchers from 34 institutes in six... more
	Novel breeding strategy for plant resistance
	Disabling certain plant genes instead of adding resistance genes is a promising strategy for giving crops long-term resistance to diseases. Researcher Yuling Bai and professors Evert Jacobsen and... more
26 Aug 2009	Van den Ende General Director Plant Sciences Group of Wageningen UR
	The Executive Board of Wageningen UR has per 1 September 2009 appointed Dr Ernst van den Ende (46) as General Director of the Plant Sciences Group (PSG). He succeeds Prof. Raoul Bino who takes up a... more
24 Aug 2009	Keygene and Wageningen UR sign a licensing agreement and strengthen their collaboration
	Keygene N.V. and Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) signed a licensing agreement that strengthens and expands their long lasting relationship on August 17, 2009. The agreement... more
20 Aug 2009	Weed ever growing problem, also in agriculture in the Netherlands
	Weed is not only a major problem for farmers in developing countries but farmers in rich countries are also facing increasing weed problems. This is the view of Bert Lotz of Plant Research... more
10 Aug 2009	Bacterial leaf spot infestation visible in strawberry
	Bacterial leaf spot disease is caused by Xanthomonas fragariae. This disease causes much damage in strawberry propagation and production. This slow-growing bacterium is difficult to trace. Infested... more
10 Jul 2009	25 Million euros for unique research into photosynthetic energy from plants and algae
	‘Artificial leaves can generate energy’ On Friday 10 July the research programme Towards Biosolar Cells was granted a budget of 25 million euros by the Dutch Government. The Ministry of Agriculture,... more
8 Jul 2009	New website: QBOL - Quarantine Barcoding of Life
	Wednesday 8 July 2009 the new www.qbol.org has been launched. The site offers information about the on going process of DNA barcoding of plant pathogenic quarantine organisms. The site has been built... more
	Bacteria from manure may get into crops
	Bacteria in manure that are harmful to humans may reproduce around the roots of plants and get into the groundwater. This has been demonstrated by Dr. A.V. Semenov, researcher at the chair group... more
15 Jun 2009	Can biofuels be sustainable by 2020?
	A joint study of Wageningen University and Research Centre, Ecofys, ECN and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) concludes that not all the sustainability criteria as set by the... more
2 Jun 2009	Advisers to test drive ENDURE Information Centre
	ENDURE’S Information Centre (EIC) will be tested by advisers at the Cereals Event 2009 on June 10 and 11 at Royston, Hertfordshire, UK. EIC is the web-based system for sharing Best Practices across... more
7 May 2009	Unique DNA barcode to identify harmful organisms
	A customs official at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport identifies the DNA barcode of an unknown insect in a batch of roses he is checking. He then looks this DNA barcode up in a database to check whether... more
27 Apr 2009	Sequencing the full genome of banana
	The international public consortium for the genomics of the banana, in which Plant Research International of Wageningen UR is one of the partners, has decided to sequence the full genome of banana.... more
15 Apr 2009	Wageningen UR and KeyGene to develop a superior genome
	This press release has been issued by Keygene on 15 April 2009The Plant Sciences department of Wageningen UR will apply KeyGene’s ‘Whole Genome Profiling’ technology to construct a high quality... more
	Bacteria isolate controls Phytophthora infestans in potato experiments
	Greenhouse experiments by Plant Research International, part of Wageningen UR, show that the presence of the Pseudomonas putida isolate P9 in two late potato varieties infected by P. infestans (the... more
11 Mar 2009	Wageningen scientists develop plants that sustainably produce ‘platform chemicals’
	Plant Research International and the Microbiology group, both part of Wageningen UR, have jointly developed potato plants that are capable of producing itaconic acid. Itaconic acid is a... more
6 Mar 2009	Crop-adapted spraying system wins Innovation Award Sustainable Plant Protection
	The leaf-dependent spraying system Canopy Density Spraying, developed by Jan van de Zande of Plant Research International (PRI), has won the Innovation Award Sustainable Plant Protection. On 5 March... more
25 Feb 2009	Erwinia bacterium causes more damage in potatoes
	The Erwinia bacterium seems to have become more aggressive in recent years and causes more damage in infested potato plants. This is the conclusion of researcher Jan van der Wolf of Plant Research... more
24 Feb 2009	Robotised roguing in tulip
	Virus detection in tulips: first step towards robotised roguingFinding virus-diseased tulips in a field is a difficult job. Even experienced hand-roguers find it difficult, in particular in yellow... more
6 Feb 2009	Intensive agriculture better for environment
	Extensive agriculture with fewer inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides is less sustainable than intensive agriculture. Even the researchers who came to this conclusion are surprised by it.With the... more
5 Feb 2009	Much to be learned from creative solutions
	The soil is een black box. We hardly know anything about the bacteria and fungi living in the soil. Metagenomics, which studies all DNA from an ecosystem at the same time, helps to increase our... more
28 Jan 2009	Report on beekeeping problems for minister LNV
	The research report ‘Vision Beekeeping and Insect Pollination’ (in Dutch) was handed to minister Verburg of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality by Wageningen UR scientists. The... more
22 Jan 2009	Ruud knows how to deal with bitter dock
	Ruud took centre stage on Biovak, the fair for organic farming, recntly held in Zwolle. Ruud is a robot. Send him out into the field and he weeds bitter dock. Fully automatic and on his own. A... more