Dr. Volker Hahn

Head of the group: Legumes (he/his)
Deputy Head of the State Plant Breeding Institute

He is an agricultural scientist specializing in plant breeding. After completing his doctorate at Justus Liebig University Giessen on the causes of cytoplasmic male sterility in sunflowers, he joined the State Plant Breeding Institute to establish the sunflower breeding research program. His current focus is on soybean breeding, complemented by breeding work on chia, buckwheat, and chickpeas. A key area of his research is the use of drones for phenotyping breeding material, as well as the application of near-infrared technology to characterize quality traits. Additionally, he is investigating phenomic selection as an innovative approach in plant breeding.

Research Interests

Soybeans, chia, chickpeas, buckwheat, sunflowers
Phenotyping with drones
Breeding methodology using phenomic selection
Plant-based proteins for human nutrition
Effects of climate change on plant breeding

Curriculum Vitae

2010 - present	Deputy Head of the State Plant Breeding Institute	University of Hohenheim, State Plant Breeding Institute, Stuttgart, Germany
2007 - present	Head of the Soybean Research and Breeding Group	University of Hohenheim, State Plant Breeding Institute, Stuttgart, Germany
1993 - present	Head of the Sunflower Research Group	University of Hohenheim, State Plant Breeding Institute, Stuttgart, Germany
1990 - 1993	PhD: Molecular genetic studies on the causes of cytoplasmic pollen sterility in sunflower	Justus Liebig University, Gießen

Research Projects

Legume Generation (EU) – Boosting innovation in breeding for the next generation of legume crops for Europe. www.legumegeneration.eu
SENSOJA – Sensor-assisted breeding of high-performance soybean varieties with increased tolerance to abiotic stress
InnoSun – Increasing oil yield and improving oil quality and disease resistance in sunflower using new innovative breeding methods

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Projects

Publications

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Publikationen