Roland Guéval is building his 3rd greenhouse in Lambé (near Brest), this one will cover 18,000 m2 (the first greenhouse measured 10,000 m2 and the second 15,000 m2). The vegetable producer, who specialises in tomatoes, hopes to create employment opportunities and increase his production.
Mr Guéval grows tomatoes for the cooperative, Savéol. He says that “Today I work with 8 full time employees, and I hire up to 25 people over the summer. With the third greenhouse, we will have 14 full time employees… and up to 40 people in the summer!”. Production will also increase: “It reached 900 tons in 2015, and could increase to 1,600 tons of tomatoes once the new greenhouse is operational.”
As well as building the greenhouse, Mr Guéval is setting up a system to collect rainwater, he underlines the importance of “producing cleanly”. He has developed a system to recycle water, “The water that is not consumed by the plant will be filtered and re-used on it the next day”. He is pleased as well that he has reduced electricity consumption in his greenhouses, “In 1998, they consumed 550 kilowatts/m2, today it is no more than 370/m2. “These things are important to me,” he says. “My tomatoes grow on coconut fibres, but to be organic, they need to grow in the ground”. He says that this does not worry him: “My aim is to not treat my tomatoes. I am proud that that I can do so.” To avoid treating the tomatoes, he puts insects inside the greenhouses that attack tomato predators. “So, it is sort of them that manage the greenhouse!”