Field of expertise:

Plant Science Services GmbH is a plant biotechnology company founded in 1999. It´s core technology is vegetative propagation of selected genotypes of any kind of horti- or agricultural crops. This propagation is carried out by means of biotechnology (in vitro techniques).
PSS is successful in breeding, selection, propagation, and marketing of new commercial varieties of crops. Customers and partners of PSS are spread around different climates and cultures around the world, like India, Kenya, China, United States and most European countries.
PSS is producing special selection of energy-crop Miscanthus, Chinese elephant grass, thus contributing to widening the knowledge of best practice in growing energy plants.
As an international active company with scientific background PSS is able to offer expertise in any step of commercial plant production.
Aside of production unit PSS is offering worldwide consultancy in commercial plant production issues like plant biotechnology, optimum fertilizer management, integrated pest management, plant disease analysis and treatment, organic farming in horticulture, and cost effective production innovation.
PSS has taken part in EC-CRAFT projects dealing with increasing the value of natural products successfully (AGE, AMAY; both FP6) as well as in projects on genetic engineering of horticultural crops, where PSS contributed its expertise on plant biotechnology.
Actual internal research at PSS focuses on improvement of halophytes as source for biomass by breeding, selection and growing of special genotypes.

Role in the project:
PSS will contribute with its vast experience in commercial plant production to all work packages on the plant production side as well as the Live Cycle Assessment.
In WP2 PSS will take part in Qualification of Biomass Sources, offering their expertise especially in reviewing the data on Quantification of Biomass Sources. Special knowledge from PSS will help in the Identification of synergic effects in biomass production, subtask 2.5.
The main contribution to WP3 will be the qualified survey of best agricultural practice for sustainability in biomass production (plants). Through literature research and partners survey PSS will also contribute to WP 4 (Review of current research activities).
In WP 5 PSS will be the task leader for task 5.3 Identification of Environmental Impact Schemes (with D22) and will help USC in the preparation of the LCA seminar (D17) .