Sustainable Plant and Animal Production

Looking for alternatives of chemical and pharmaceutical products is essential to face the challenges in plant and animal production.
Pesticides, fertiliser or antibiotics are widely used in agriculture with all negative consequences concerning environmental and health problems we are facing today.  

Pathogens (e.g., viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi) cause high mortality rates are a major problem leading to tremendous economic losses in plant and animal production. Research at ILEE aims at the search for alternative solutions to control diseases and sustainably improve the performance of plant crops in agriculture and fish in aquaculture.

Plant molecular studies focus on phytopathological aspects of signal transduction as well as on elicitor molecules that stimulate plant defences against both biotic and abiotic stress. These elicitors are of biological origin and offer an environmentally friendly alternative to increase resistance of plants against pathogen attacks. A spin-off company was created pursuing this purpose - FytoFend S.A.

In aquaculture, special emphasis is put on the search for alternatives to the use of antibiotics and chemicals through immuno-stimulation methods, the replacement of fish meal and fish oil by plant ingredients the optimisation of animal husbandry to improve fish welfare. Research is conducted on temperate (Eurasian perch, pikeperch, trout) and tropical (striped catfish, African catfish, tilapia) species.

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