Optimization of rhubarb cultivation in Flanders

Rhubarb cultivation has faced numerous challenges in recent years. These include difficulty in finding high-quality, disease-free starting material, productivity issues, and uncertainty regarding varietal purity. Farmers are in high demand for solutions. To meet this demand, this operational group (OG) has defined the following objectives: establishing a demonstration rhubarb trial field (including a rhubarb variety collection); identifying the most important pathogens in rhubarb; developing a genetic marker test to determine varietal purity in rhubarb; and starting the in vitro cultivation of the most commonly grown rhubarb varieties in Flanders. We plan the following project activities: establishing cultivation techniques trials and a rhubarb variety collection; organizing a co-creation session with stakeholders to capture growers' needs; testing rhubarb samples for various potential primary pathogens; validating various markers from the literature to distinguish five of the most common reference varieties in Flanders. Initiating in vitro rhubarb cultivation of the three main varieties and various communication initiatives. As a result, we aim to build a variety collection, solve cultivation problems, identify the most important pathogens, and get rhubarb into the in vitro propagation phase. Inagro, Vives, REO, and ARDO are also committed to continuing rhubarb research after this OG.