The greenhouse horticultural sector in the border area of Flanders- Netherlands has a high productivity ratio, is innovative and the second best exporting region in the world. According to the researchers of project GROW!, smart crossovers between greenhouse horticulture and high-tech systems and material can secure an even stronger position in the future. The specific cross-over between sensor technology and greenhouse horticulture offers great opportunities but to this day is not utilized to its full potential. GROW! Is looking to change this.
A picture of test center Hoogstraten where a tomato greenhouse is equipped with sensor technology
Measuring
In the GROW!-project research institutes, colleges and universities work together with partners from the greenhouse horticultural sector to build and optimize high-tech greenhouses. The goal of the inter-regional cooperation is to make greenhouse horticulture more efficient and innovative, because, with the right sensors diseases in plants can be seen and dealt with faster and abiotic stress can be measured and prevented.
They can do this by using ion-selective sensors and by developing measurement tools for the pH and nutrients in water specifically used for greenhouse horticulture. With these, it can be measured by what nutrients are being absorbed by the plant. Besides this climate sensors are being used and optimized for measurements of amongst others, humidity and CO2.
Data processing and visualizing
The sensors that will be developed by GROW! Need to be compact, robust and preferably cheap and require little power to be integrated. Besides that, research is being done to find the best method to collect, process and visualize sensor data. For this type of research, the mix of Flemish and Dutch knowledge is essential.
Testing gardens
At the moment, gardens are being equipped with prototypes for testing of a sensor network in the Flemish Hoogstraten and in the Dutch city of Den Bosch at the HAS college with the goal of monitoring data via new technologies. In addition water and climate measurements, the physiology, pathology and stress levels of the tomato plant are being measured. The data then gets linked and interpreted through intelligent mathematical models that give the grower the opportunity to make the right decisions to ensure optimal harvesting.
Also, the data from the sensors, data systems, and plant models are being tested with lettuce crops in some greenhouse horticulture companies and vertical farms. In chicory, for example, the flow of water from top to bottom and what it is the leafy greens ‘eat’, is being investigated.
About GROW!
GROW! is financed within the Interreg V program Flanders-Netherlands, the collaboration program without borders for smart, green and inclusive growth, with the financial support of the European Funds for Regional Development. The project will last from the 1st of January 2018 till the 31st of December 2020. In total, the project received 1.7 million euros from the European investments funds Interreg. Besides this, the province of Flemish-Brabant, the province of Antwerp, the province of North Brabant, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Flemish government invest in the project.
The one responsible for the project is the IMEC Foundation of the Netherlands. As project partners, Holst Centre (a coalition between the IMEC Foundation of the Netherlands and TNO), Proefcentrum Hoogstraten, HAS College, University Antwerp, Catholic University Louvain, LTO Glaskracht, and the Flemish Centre for Storage of Gardening products are all involved.
Source: HAS Hogeschool