Custom advice improves yield

The climate is changing worldwide, and growers are wondering how best to deal with it. This means that the demand for custom solutions is growing. At the same time, the possibility of providing customized advice is improving, because the number of different coatings has grown considerably. 
Jelle Hoogland and Paul van Gils provide advice to growers about the best possible solution and are in contact with research institutes to closely monitor new developments. In turn, they provide these institutes with practical knowledge.
“We have a great deal of knowledge in-house and we would like to improve its flow towards growers, crop consultants, distributors, contractors and of course our own colleagues,” says Hoogland. He primarily focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Australia and New Zealand. His colleague Van Gils primarily focuses on North-West Europe. Together they have more than fifty years of experience in crop consulting. 

Increasingly better insight

Over the past fifteen years, insight into light and climate has grown tremendously. The benefits of diffuse light have become clear. The effect of infrared radiation. The importance of the plant’s interior balance. Insight into the importance of the right light color currently is growing by leaps and bounds.
ReduSystems has, based on increased scientific insights, steadily developed new coatings designed to control the greenhouse climate and crop growth with a clear focus. Growers are now able to better apply and align the available palette of options to their own situation. Hoogland: “It is our responsibility to inform our customers about this. Now that we have been appointed as consultants, it is clear for everyone who to turn to for any questions.”

Coordinated measures

The time that the only issue was choosing the right coating has long come and gone, says Van Gils. “We now work in accordance with the basic principles of The New Cultivation and Plant Empowerment approach. This means that you effectively coordinate the use of all of your resources – climate control, watering, coatings, movable screens – in order to achieve a healthy crop. Often this is a work of art, particularly in hot countries. In these countries, the choices you make increasingly matter. This may include an adjustment to the use of your current coating through means of an alternative or applying different coatings on top of each other throughout the year, for example with the objective of reducing heat (IR) within the greenhouse, while retaining growing light (PAR).”
The intent here is not to have their advice replace that of crop consultants. “We alert growers about the possibilities for their specific situation. The long-standing practice of finetuning crop cultivation measures with crop consultants is indispensable.  We therefore also share our knowledge with them, so that they are aware of the full range of control options.” Van Gils: “Energy is a current topic at the present time. On the one hand, growers would like to keep heat within the greenhouse, thus reducing the consumption of natural gas on darker days. On the other hand, there are growers who would like to reduce heat in the greenhouse in order to save electricity in the summer. We have ideas about both of these issues that we can discuss with you.”

Light Plan

With ReduSystems we can prepare a plan for the entire year. Such a plan indicates how best to manage light and heat throughout the year: reduce it or use it to your advantage. 
Decisions about this can be rationalized onsite through means of on-site measurements of, for example, light, and plant and fruit temperature. “Sometimes it can be very revealing when you are able to demonstrate how much the fruit temperature deviates from the greenhouse temperature and what you can do to better manage this,” says Van Gils.

Jelle Hoogland and Paul van Gils enjoy being in contact with growers, researchers, and crop consultants. If you have any questions, send us an email at consultancy@lumiforte.com.