Wageningen University and Research (WUR) has unveiled a cutting-edge demonstration greenhouse designed to help the Dutch horticultural sector become CO2 neutral by 2040. Not limited simply to energy efficiency, the new greenhouse incorporates innovative measures designed to reduce pesticide and artificial fertiliser use to zero while improving yields.
The demonstration greenhouse, called KAS2030 and sited in Bleiswijk in the west of the country, is currently producing strawberries, houseplants and flowers, and plays host to groups of producers every two to three weeks.
In terms of crop protection, the greenhouse relies on what WUR describes as a ‘standing army’ of beneficials to control pests such as thrips, whiteflies and lice. It means battalions of Reduviidae bugs and parasitic wasps, for example, are permanent residents of the greenhouse. As any general knows, an ‘army marches on its stomach’, so efforts have been made to ensure the appropriate plants are available for housing and feeding these beneficials.
Often, producers will call upon beneficials only once an infestation has been observed. “This takes time, and meanwhile, the plague can spread,” Frank Kempkes, a researcher in energy and greenhouse climate told the WUR website. “So our team of entomologists is now researching what conditions we need for a continuous presence of biological exterminators, and what effect this has. This requires precision.”
He added: “The conditions in the greenhouse must be favourable to the survival of the exterminators. Besides, not every plague insect has a known natural enemy.”
In terms of reduced energy use, the greenhouse is employing a raft of measures. These include dehumidification apparatus to extract moisture from the air over the winter, the use of renewable energy through a heat pump and energy storage through a layer of groundwater, and intensified cultivation. For example, rather than growing strawberries in rows wide enough for a person to move between, an intelligent system lifts rows of plants making it possible increase the number of plants in the same space by 20%.
Water efficiency has also been addressed with irrigation water conserved within the system, even if it has evaporated and been removed from the air by the dehumidifier. This water is then treated with ozone to kill any germs.
WUR reports that fruit, flowers and vegetables are grown across 9,500 hectares of greenhouses in the Netherlands. Only 300 of these hectares are renewed annually in the form of the replacement of obsolete greenhouses. It notes that this pace of change is too slow for the sector to be emissions-free by 2040 and it believes the new demonstration unit will help boost the rate of change.
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Last update: 24/05/2023 - ENDURE © 2009 - Contact ENDURE - Disclaimer