Objectives and goals
Nursery production of seedlings and flowering plants is a dynamic branch of agriculture in Greece.
A nursery product consists of the plant and its substrate, which consists mainly of peat (+individual additions of mined materials, e.g. perlite). The increased use of peat, in addition to creating disposal problems, also presents other problems such as:
- Short substrate life. From the moment of extraction, the peat passes into aerobic conditions resulting in the oxidation of the material and undermining the health of the plants.
- Problems of homogeneity and uniformity: Peat originates from various environments resulting in its strong variability, which is also expressed phenotypically in plants. The producer bears costly analyzes to constantly check its suitability.
- Fungal load: Peat has problems from fungi such as Phytopthora and Rhizoctonia resulting in the use of expensive plant protection products. In these cases, all the plants are of degraded quality, damaging the producer.
- High carbon footprint (peat is a mining material with a high carbon content).
The aim of the project is to apply improved types of substrates of high stability and fertility using alternative materials to improve the durability and quality of nursery production of floriculture and arboriculture products aiming to reduce nursery uses of peat and carbon footprint through circular economy methods.
