Netherlands: Wageningen UR arranged horticulture presentation for president Xi Jinping

During the two-day state visit to the Netherlands the Chinese president Xi Jinping was given a presentation, in the presence of King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and State Secretary Sharon Dijksma, about milk production and the dairy industry, and greenhouse horticulture in the Keukenhof. The presentation by Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture included a photo presentation and a setup with LED lighting in tomato.

Sjaak Bakker, manager of Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture, gave information about the innovations that are contributing to the high production per m2 greenhouse and the possibilities for quality improvement. The use of substrate cultivation with optimum water and nutrient dosing, modern computerised climate control systems, and lighting applications such as LED were among the examples mentioned by Bakker.

Tag shows storage life

Bakker also showed the Pasteur sensor tag, which can be applied in the logistic chain. This tag, developed in collaboration with Wageningen UR Food and BioBased Research, shows, among other things, the conditions under which the harvested product has been transported and the true storage life.

Seed quality improvement

The breeding sector and seed quality improvement were other subjects of the presentation. These themes showed an excellent match with the Chinese interests and are offering ample opportunities for enhancing Dutch-Chinese collaboration in these domains.