Research Institute of Horticulture (InHort)

Inhort is a governmental R&D organization supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It is the coordinator of Centre of Advanced Technologies “AgroTech”, which is a cluster of 3 universities, 2 R&D Institutes and 4 commercial enterprises aimed at developing and implementing innovative technologies in the Polish agri-food industry. It is also the coordinator of the network “Agroengineering for sustainable development of agri-food industry and rural areas” and a founding member of Polish Food Technology Platform. In September 2011 InHort has organized the conference “Food and Nutrition in 21st Century”, an official event of the Polish Presidency in the EU Council. The Institute actively participates in building the European Research Area, cooperating with most of the horticultural research centres and clusters in Europe and several joint research projects, co-financed by European Commission and other international organisations. At present, InHort is involved in five projects within the 7th Framework Program and in several others within central Europe, COST programs and in bilateral projects within agreements on cooperation in science and technology.
Besides research, InHort takes part in several governmental programs on food contamination screening, development of integrated and organic production, protection of genetic resources and in CAMBAigns aimed at changing the nutritional habits of Polish consumers towards healthy eating. InHort’s laboratories are also providing commercial analyses for food producers and exporters. Moreover, InHort is an active member of the European Fruit Research Institutes Network (EUFRIN) and deeply engaged in European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program. Due to active extension and implementation programs and close cooperation with major stakeholders, the Institute has contributed a large extent to the development of Polish horticultural production.