Aghrant

The province of Antwerp has always been an important engine for food production in Flanders. Differences in soil and specialisation have led to a very diverse agricultural and horticultural landscape. To support the sector, throughout the years, 4 practice research facilities have been established across the province, in areas where they had a close link to farmers.

The 4 stations, each in their area of expertise, provide a broad range of services to individual farmers, farmers associations, suppliers to the farming sector, local communities, society as a whole and policy makers. They are set up to mirror installations, tools and management practices used in their field and have solid expertise in applied agricultural and horticultural research for plant and animal production including field and greenhouse vegetables, strawberries, feed crops, poultry (broilers and layers) and dairy cattle. They are staffed with technical experts and highly skilled researchers who lead and participate in regional, national and European projects to develop, pilot, demonstrate and disseminate knowledge on best in class practices, materials, products and equipment for crop protection, nutrition, precision agriculture, varieties, mechanisation, digitisation, reduction of emissions, efficient use of resources and energy, reduction of impact on the environment, agroecology, young stock, reduction of the use of antibiotics, animal welfare and health,...

To enhance synergies between the stations, increase the exchange of knowledge, tackle common challenges, strengthen the depth and width of the research activities and make best use of the capabilities of the pool of researchers, a cooperation platform, AGHRANT, was formed. AGHRANT strives for a close collaboration between the research stations and brings their European cooperation and project development and participation to the next level. This results in lead and partner roles in a continuous string of highly successful European projects.

AGHRANT partners are part of Agrolink Flanders.