There are many opportunities for youngsters who are passionate about a career in horticulture. With greenhouse companies popping up all over the world, investors, recruiters, suppliers and consultants are eager to hire young graduates as soon as they finish their education. Those with international ambition have plenty of choice these days.
Ewout Booij, a Dutch student of Horticulture & Arable Farming at the HAS University of Applied Sciences in Den Bosch, experienced these opportunities firsthand during a recent internship in Georgia. He spent 15 weeks at Imereti Greenery, a 2.5 hectare high tech greenhouse company ventured by a group of Dutch entrepreneurs. During this internship, Booij saw the opportunities for year-round production in a local market that lacks quality produce. "There is a lot of demand for high quality, locally grown fresh produce in Georgia. With the right knowledge, technique and experience you can achieve a lot over here."
Ewout Booij
Booij, the son of a Dutch grower, was impressed by the opportunities for locally-grown produce. Georgia imports a lot of its produce and the local climate does not enable traditional cultivation schemes to produce year-round. With advanced greenhouse technology, Imereti Greenery can grow year-round and serve a growing niche market for year-round high quality produce.
"In Holland the market is completely different. We are focused on producing at the lowest cost possible. In Georgia, this is also important, but the focus lies more on serving a growing demand for a product that usually is not available. You can not compare those two markets with each other."
Nonetheless, Imereti strives for maximizing its production and increasing the efficiency as much as they can. For this reason, Booij conducted an advisory study during his internship. In order to optimize the production during the warmer and humid summer months, the HAS student researched what kind of improvements could be made to the Georgian greenhouse.
Imereti produces with the help of supplemental lighting
"I spent a large part of my time analyzing the summer climate in the greenhouse. During a few weeks of the summer, temperatures are too high and the climate becomes too humid, with a production decrease as a result. I provided Imereti with advice on how to cope with this and what kind of technologies to improve this could be interesting, looking at both yield and increase."
When asked if the Dutchman will ever go back to Georgia, he is not sure. But he does not exclude a possible career in international horticulture. "Georgia is a very beautiful country with a lot of opportunities as a result of a changing economy. The internship opened my eyes for working abroad and I am open to continue a part of my career in another foreign country. I notice there are plenty of opportunities, so who knows what the future will bring."
For more information: Ewout Booij (mailto:T.Booij@student.has.nl?subject=Reply to Hortidaily Articlee-mail)