BioMatNet Item: FAIR-CT97-3751 - Optimised production and harvesting technique of the alternative crop Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

FAIR-CT97-3751
Optimised production and harvesting technique of the alternative crop Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

To find similar Items, click on a keyword below:
Crops for Fine Chemicals : FAIR Area 1.2 - Green Chemicals and Polymers Chain : Flavours/Fragrances

	Type of Project	Shared Cost
	Contract No	FAIR-CT97-3751
	Total Cost	1,043,000 ECU
	EC Contribution	808,000 ECU
	Start Date	01/02/1998
	Duration	38 Months

Optimised production and harvesting technique of the alternative crop Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

Objectives

Stevia rebaudiana is a new promising renewable raw material for the southern regions of EU. The plant can be used to produce a natural sweetener (food); as a source of chlorophyll (oral hygiene products, medicine); as a source of phytosterols (medicine: raw stuff for the synthesis of oral contraceptives, cholesterol suppressing medicine, anti-tumour activity against prostate tumours and activity against rheumatism). The sweetener can be converted into gibberellins by fermentation, the vegetative residue can be used as fodder especially for sheep and goats and the stalks can be used as a source of cellulose. The added value for this new crop and its green chemicals is about 50.000 ECU/ha. The cultivation of Stevia could increase farm incomes and create employment in rural areas.

The climatic and agronomic characteristics of Stevia means that it can be cultivated in tobacco areas and can partly substitute for tobacco, a crop in crisis. For the new reformed tobacco sector, Stevia can be an alternative for the people working in this area. For non-food purposes the crop can be cultivated on land within the set aside scheme. It therefore makes sense, in the economic context of the CAP, to have as an objective, the introduction of Stevia in Europe. This crop has a high added value, and is suited to poor land in southern Europe.

Technical Approach

The present project aims to achieve a significant improvement in the cultivation and processing of Stevia, by closely associating agronomists, process technologists and construction engineers in order to reduce production costs. The project includes the following aims:

Development of basic agricultural characterisation for cultivation in EU
Development of an adapted Stevia harvester
Development of an optimised cultivation technique that is economically adapted to European farms, notably through mechanisation

Expected Results

The implemention of this research project would allow, within some years, the cultivation of 5000 to 10.000 hectares of Stevia on poor soil in southern Europe.

Contacts

Coordinator

Thomas JUNGBLUTH / Universitat Hohenheim GERMANY

EC Scientific Officer

Adelmo MOREALE / European Commission DG VI Agriculture BELGIUM

Participant