INGOT Development Partners

CRA-W
Established in 1872, the Walloon Agricultural Research Centre (CRA-W) is a leading scientific institution, under the Wallonia Ministry of Agriculture in Belgium. The research centre employs more than 500 people including 120 scientists across 9 departments. Its offices, laboratories, greenhouses, orchards and experimental plots occupy an area of about 300 ha. The expertise available at this multidisciplinary research institution covers the following areas: plant  resources management, integrated plant protection, farming systems, agricultural engineering, agro meteorology, optimisation of agricultural productions and analysis and quality control of agro-food products.

Dr Pierre Dardenne leads the Agricultural Product Quality Department which is internationally renowned for their expertise in spectroscopy. Near Infrared spectroscopy is a major topic of research for Pierre Dardennes team, which started more than 25 years ago with the pioneering work of Robert Biston. The department has more than 20 NIR spectrometers, which are calibrated using their own accredited reference techniques.