Vegetable and ornamental plants are not mass products; they must have a high quality. They should also come from production systems that do not exploit resources. And, for successful marketing, their price should be affordable. The Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (Institut für Gemüse- und Zierpflanzenbau, IGZ; www.igzev.de) with sites in Großbeeren (close to Berlin) and Erfurt has a focus on understanding plant physiological and ecological processes. Our work helps to design ecologically sustainable and economically successful horticultural systems. We investigate growth, development, and quality of plant under optimal and under stress conditions. In several projects, the effects of changing environmental conditions on horticultural production are determined. We closely cooperate with universities, other research institutions, and producers, within Germany and Europe, but also worldwide.

The IGZ is a member of the Leibniz Association (Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, www.wgl.de) of research institutions, and is one of the largest publicly funded horticultural research institutions in Germany. Our Scientific Advisory Board, led by Prof. Hans-Peter Liebig, helps to define our research strategy and follows and supports our activities. We combine knowledge and ideas from modelling, plant propagation, plant quality, plant health and plant nutrition. Our work is interdisciplinary and covers several fields of horticultural and food production research.

The aim of our researchers is to use new insights in genetic or ecological processes to solve problems in vegetable or ornamental crop production or use of horticultural products. Cooperation with regional, national, and international partners is a key to the future development of the IGZ. This cooperation will help us to use our research potential effectively.