PROEFCENTRUM HOOGSTRATEN

Their core work

Proefcentrum Hoogstraten is a Belgian horticultural research centre specializing in practical cultivation trials for berry fruits, tomatoes, cucurbits, and other fertigated crops. They bridge the gap between laboratory science and grower practice — testing cultivation techniques, water and nutrient management, and crop protection strategies that farmers can directly adopt. Their work spans from understanding plant biology (dormancy, flower initiation) to combating emerging viral diseases in greenhouse vegetables.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2016–2018) centred on practical agronomy — sustainable water management in fertigation and berry fruit quality under varying growing conditions. By 2021, their focus shifted decisively toward plant health and virology, joining VIRTIGATION to tackle emerging tobamovirus and begomovirus threats in tomato and cucurbit production. This progression from crop management to crop protection reflects a logical deepening: from optimizing how crops grow to defending them against new biological threats amplified by climate change.

Moving toward integrated crop protection and virus mitigation in greenhouse horticulture — expect future work combining biocontrol, diagnostics, and resistant varieties.

How they like to work

Proefcentrum Hoogstraten participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator, which is typical of applied research centres that contribute field-trial infrastructure and practical growing expertise rather than leading large research programmes. With 64 unique partners across 19 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in large, well-connected consortia. This makes them an accessible partner — experienced in multi-national collaboration without the overhead expectations of project leadership.

Despite only 3 projects, they have built a remarkably broad network of 64 partners across 19 countries, indicating participation in large pan-European consortia. Their geographic reach spans well beyond the Benelux region into Southern and Eastern Europe.

What sets them apart

As a practical horticultural trial centre rather than a university lab, Proefcentrum Hoogstraten offers something many academic partners cannot: direct access to commercial-scale growing facilities and close relationships with growers who will actually adopt results. Their dual expertise in both soft fruit and greenhouse vegetables (tomatoes, cucurbits) is unusual — most centres specialize in one or the other. For consortium builders, they are the partner who ensures research outputs get tested under real production conditions.

Highlights from their portfolio

• VIRTIGATION
  Their largest funded project (EUR 202,688), tackling the urgent and rapidly spreading tobamovirus/begomovirus threat to European tomato and cucurbit production.
• GoodBerry
  A comprehensive berry research effort combining genomics (omics, systems biology) with practical cultivation trials — rare integration of fundamental and applied science.