Work is soon to begin on constructing a greenhouse that outdoes all the innovations in its field. Glass bays, high-performance culture rooms, controlled simulation of climate change effects on plants … “ Work is to start in February, says Didier Holmière, head of eco-energy and outside maintenance at the Installations and Maintenance Service (DITAM). Five companies will be involved, supervised by the EGE Design office and DITAM”.

A huge building, 50 metres long and 14 metres wide, is to see the light of day at the Lavalette site in Montpellier. Six glazed units measuring 40 m2 each will lead off from a rectangular technical hall. Each BSL 2 confinement greenhouse is due to house climate rooms for cultures, preparation zones and a glazed experimental area.

“This new cutting-edge building will enable us to explore with precision a complete climate range for temperature and moisture, combined with CO2, or even radiation quality”, explained ecophysiologist Denis Fabre, who is working on climate change and the impact of CO2 at the AGAP joint research unit, and Tanguy Lafarge, the scientific coordinator for the project, added: “Following an internal inquiry with CIRAD’s research units in 2012 regarding our needs, and thanks to the unfailing and essential backing of the Regional Directorate for Occitanie – Montpellier, CIRAD will at last have ultra-modern equipment for plant experiments, a source of new projects and partnerships and a showcase to be presented to our many visitors.”

With funding from the 2015-2020 State-Region Plan Contract, this project is being managed by the Montpellier Greenhouses Network (RéSem). For CIRAD the operation amounts to 2.1 million euros, including 1.3 million euros provided by The OCCITANIE Pyrénées Méditerranée Region.

Due for completion in October 2017.

What is RéSEM ?

The scientific greenhouses in Montpellier are part of the Montpellier experimental greenhouses network (RéSEM), founded in 2012. Its role is to structure a pooled policy based on a set of criteria (regulations, environmental and energy aspects, ergonomics, metrology, training, technology watch, etc.) while ensuring good legibility (work space availability, etc.) and visibility for users, private firms, organizations and donors. RéSEM, which is organized around a steering committee including the founding organizations (CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, SupAgro, IRD and University of Montpellier), a coordination unit and thematic groups, is geared towards its objectives via task forces working on specific topics (lighting, and energy savings). With the backing of its founding organizations (funding, but also part-time secondment of staff), RéSEM has the particularity of being transversal across the entire Occitanie agro-environment hub. Consequently, it is currently the only transversal instrument (if one discounts Agropolis International). It is linked to the national institutional networks of greenhouse operators (CNRS and INRA), and is without precedent at national level. It has been used to instigate greenhouse construction and renovation projects (State-Region Plan Contract).