The FiniTo project is a German-wide joint project with the aim of providing horticultural businesses in all sectors with the best possible support in the introduction and use of peat-free or peat-reduced substrates, so that a changeover can succeed without any loss of competitiveness.

The project is dedicated to the entire horticultural production sector (e.g. tree nurseries, berry fruit production, the cultivation of young vegetable plants, perennials, potted herbs, ornamental plants) as well as cemetery horticulture. Thanks to project funding from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the project is free of charge for the companies.

The project consists of 6 sub-projects:

• Sub-project 1 (Western specialist centere & overall coordination) is based at the Straelen/Cologne-Auweiler Horticultural Research Centre of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture (LWK NRW). From there, horticultural companies in NRW and the neighbouring areas are supported. Approximately one third of all ornamental plant nurseries in Germany are located in the region of the Western Specialist Centre, with a focus on the Lower Rhine around Straelen. In the area of tree nurseries and soft fruit cultivation, the number of farms and areas under cultivation are also among the top positions in agricultural statistics. In addition to local centres, all cultivation sectors are also distributed across the area. The region is characterised by very different farm structures and a wide variety of crops.
• Sub-project 2 (northern specialist centre) is based at the Hannover-Ahlem Training and Research Institute for Horticulture (LVG) of the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture (LWK Niedersachsen). This centre looks after an area with a large spatial extent, stretching from western Lower Saxony on the Dutch border to the Polish border in eastern Mecklenburg-Western and from the Danish border in northern Schleswig-Holstein to the southern end of Lower Saxony. All sectors are represented with significant numbers of farms in the area, plus regional cultivation centres, e.g. tree nurseries in Ammerland.
• Sub-project 3 (southern specialist centre) is based at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences and supports interested companies throughout Bavaria. Overall, Bavarian horticulture tends to have a small-scale structure. Particularly in ornamental plant cultivation and in the tree nursery sector, retail outlets and nurseries with their own production make up the majority of businesses. With the exception of only a few Azerca businesses, all horticultural sectors are represented to a significant extent in Bavaria.
• Sub-project 4 (South-West specialist centre and cross-sectional interface of digital knowledge transfer) at the LVG Heidelberg looks after horticultural businesses in the catchment area of the Baden-Württemberg-Hessen Horticultural Association as well as in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. Structurally, the companies are very similar to those in the southern region. The cross-sectional knowledge transfer centre provides the technology and the platform for the internal and external exchange of results and information within the project in order to facilitate the digital transfer of knowledge on the subject of peat substitutes for all horticultural sectors.
• Sub-project 5 (Specialist Centre East) at the LfULG Dresden-Pillnitz covers the geographical area of the federal states of Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. Approximately 900 horticultural businesses are located in the catchment area of the eastern specialist centre. In addition, there are retail nurseries with relatively small cultivated areas that were not included in the agricultural structure survey.
• Sub-project 6 (business management) at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences is concerned with the business management aspects of switching to peat-reduced and peat-free growing media. Over the entire duration of the project, specialised information on the use of business management tools in company management and on the communication of general business management aspects relating to substrate conversion will be developed, supplemented by practical illustrative material in various media formats and made available on the FiniTo website.

Further information, contacts and specialised information can be found at: www.projekt-finito.de