Agronomic facilities

The Center for Agrifood Research and Technology of Aragon has several specific infrastructures designed to provide technical support for applied research in plant health, improvement and production. Specifically, these are agricultural facilities and spaces oriented to the cultivation and growth of the plants under study in the research and transfer work, which are developed through projects and agreements in the field of horticulture and plant health.

These resources include the following facilities:

• Collections and trials for field research: Soto Lezcano farm in Montañana (Zaragoza) (experimental agricultural and livestock farms).

An area of 20 ha dedicated to the maintenance of reference collections of fruit germplasm (almond, peach, pear, cherry and rootstock), variety and rootstock trials (apple, apricot, plum) and nurseries.

• Outside farms: La Garcipollera (Huesca), El Vedado (Zaragoza), among others (experimental agricultural and livestock farms).

These farms reproduce the variability of the most representative agricultural production systems of the Aragonese geography (aridity, climatology, altitude, humidity, etc.).

The aim is to transfer trials of different fruit species under specific conditions to specific environments or situations. They cover a total area of 6 ha.

Collections of mountain fruit germplasm for agronomic and fruit characterization studies are kept at the La Garcipollera estate.

• Greenhouses:

Located on the Aula Dei Campus, it has nine greenhouses, with a total area of 925 m2. They are intended for plant growth and plant propagation by seed or vegetative propagation in a protected and controlled environment, whose use is justified in the different tests that the research groups carry out, or for the maintenance of germplasm.

It is worth mentioning an 80 m2 greenhouse, equipped with the corresponding specific protection and safety measures for the maintenance of virus and phytoplasma-free fruit plants. In addition, there is another 70 m2 greenhouse with an integrated photoperiod control system, used for the acclimatization of plants from in vitro cultures (in vitro culture laboratory), and several climate-controlled greenhouses for the maintenance of growing plants in winter, with automatic control, recording and monitoring systems.

• Thresholds:

Open facilities that provide less intense crop protection than greenhouses, by means of a mesh cover that protects from sun and wind. In them, growing plants are kept, and they usually allow the transition between leaving the greenhouse and the final transplanting of the plant in the field, or they are used in specific trials where young plants do not require the specific conditions of a greenhouse. Also located on the Aula Dei Campus, they cover a total area of 1,300 m2.

On the other hand, within the facilities of the Polytechnic School of Huesca, there is also a greenhouse with controlled climatic conditions (heating and cooling system), mainly for teaching purposes, but which also supports the maintenance of the germplasm bank of horticultural species (genetic resources), where seeds are multiplied and tested for viability. It is worth mentioning the presence of precision spraying equipment for the application of phytosanitary products, which keeps spraying constant with respect to pressure, forward speed and boom height.