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CROPS
The Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge, organised by Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in the Netherlands, aims to remotely grow large quantities of cherry tomatoes of good quality with minimum use of resources.
Image Credit: Hoogendoorn
Growing better with plant feedback
Team Au Tomatoes
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AGENINGEN UNIVERSITY’S AUTONOMOUS Greenhouse Challenge aims to maximise the yield and quality of the crop while minimising the use of resources, to save costs. The challenge is progressing well for team AuTomatoes, consisting of consultants, data scientists, engineers, researchers, and students from TU Delft, Van der Hoeven Horticultural Projects, KeyGene and Hoogendoorn Growth Management. They harvested their first tomatoes, and the results still look promising. The team started with the growth plan they developed in the preparation phase. Based on the incoming data and their collective knowledge, the team is constantly adjusting their growth strategy to
maximise the results. The data is used to adjust algorithms and develop different and new techniques, in order to create more optimal greenhouse controls, and thus more optimal growth conditions and greenhouse climate. According to Hoogendoorn data analyst
According to Hoogendoorn data analyst and AuTomatoes team member Evripidis Papadopoulos, “We started with a robust strategy and became flexible based on the plants’ feedback, making our strategy agile.”
and AuTomatoes team member Evripidis Papadopoulos, this is working very well. ”We started with a robust strategy and became flexible based on the plants’ feedback, making our strategy agile. We constantly work to empower the plants and maintain the plant balances in order to maximise quality, quantity, taste and resource use efficiency.” KeyGene translates plant behavior into valuable data by means of, amongst others, cameras. This data is used by Hoogendoorn to improve the algorithms used to control the growth factors, in order to optimise the greenhouse climate according to the plants’ needs. Combined with the applied and fundamental knowledge of Van der Hoeven and TU Delft, the team possesses the multidisciplinary knowledge needed to succeed in the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. h
Nutreco adopting Science Based Targets To help the world produce nutritious and highquality food in a sustainable way, Nutreco has committed to adopt Science Based Targets. The aim is to provide high-quality food to a growing population in a sustainable way. The initiative is in line with the company’s drive to achieve its mission of Feeding the Future. Nutreco has joined the global ranks of 850 other leading companies by signing a letter of commitment with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) indicating that the company will work to set a science-based emission reduction target. A global collaboration between CDP, the World Resources Institute, World Wide Fund for Nature and the United
www.africanfarming.net
Nations Global Compact, the SBTI champions science-based target setting to boost companies’ competitive advantage in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The SBTI is helping companies to align their carbon reduction strategies with the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and we’re pleased to join the initiative, together with other companies that are leading the way,” said Nutreco CEO Rob Koremans. According to the SBTI process, companies first publicly commit to setting Science Based Targets (SBT). After that, they have two years to set reduction targets for Scope one, two and three CO2 emissions: Scope one relates to
energy generated on-site, Scope two relates to energy purchased and Scope three covers energy use that takes in the supply chain. Finally, participating companies pledge to report on their progress annually. Nutreco sustainability director José Villalon said, “If grocery retailers commit to SBT, this means their meat suppliers must submit their CO2 reductions each year, and on down the value chain to feed and finally premix suppliers. So, eventually, companies across the chain will need to get on the SBT bandwagon to maintain their relationships with customers, helping to drive change throughout our industry.”
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