Unité Expérimentale Versailles Saclay (UE VS)

Laboratory presentation

The Experimental Unit (EU) « Grandes cultures » is located at two geographical sites, Thiverval-Grignon and Versailles, some 15 km apart. It is attached to the Environment and Agronomy department. 5 agents work there (4.2 ETP).

-The Thiverval-Grignon site (36 ha) is located near the grounds of the Experimental Farm AgroParisTech (an additional 6 ha are used for a system test followed by INRA).

- The site of Versailles (55 ha) is located in the park of the Palace of Versailles.

- Mission 1: realization of the experiments of the research units.

The EU technically supports experimental protocols for scientists and their implementation in the field. Experimental cultures are conducted from their establishment until harvest (including fertilization, spraying, crop protection ...). This represents each year between 20 and 30 annual, long-term and heritage trials. The goal is to fully understand the needs of researchers, to study with them the feasibility of their tests and to concretize them in the field.

-Mission 2: Provision of an experimental domain for scientific research

The EU provides the scientific community with an adapted experimental tool for hosting a variety of trials (crops) ranging from plots of a few square meters to plots of several hectares. The aim is therefore to ensure the diversity of crops and the homogeneity of the soil of the plots. The EU ensures the traceability of all the cultural operations carried out on the experiments and on the cultures of the regulating sole (so-called homogenization cultures)