Latvia: Grower boosts yields with LEDs

Signify's new partnership with Hortilife has boosted the yields at Getlini EKO, a Latvian grower of tomatoes, cucumbers and hanging plants. Results of the first commercial full-LED horticultural lighting project for IMEA cucumbers at Getlini EKO mirror those achieved in an earlier trial. From September 2017 to early January 2018, Getlini EKO harvested 146 fruits per square meter in its 3,000 square meter cucumber greenhouse, in line with Signify yield estimates. Hortilife assisted with the installation of Philips GreenPower LED toplighting and Philips GreenPower LED interlighting at the Getlini EKO greenhouse.

“Our participation in projects like Getlini EKO and the full-LED trial at Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), proves that companies can successfully grow IMEA cucumbers year-round using our LED technologies,” says Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Signify. “Furthermore, it showcases our leadership in LED lighting for horticulture.”

Jointly established and managed by the Riga and Stopini Municipalities, Getlini EKO greenhouses are located on the site of the largest municipal solid waste landfill in the Baltic States. The facility was opened in 2015 and uses heat from the waste recycling process. It installed the energy-efficient Philips LEDs in spring 2017.

“We wanted to start growing IMEA cucumbers year-round,” says Guntars Strauts, agronomist at Getlini EKO. “We needed to install lights with little heat radiation as the recycling process already produces a lot of heat. LED lighting offered that in the most economical and ecologically friendly way.”

LED lighting generates significantly less heat than high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting, allowing Getlini EKO to independently control light and heat in the greenhouse. “Signify had demonstrated its strong know-how in growing with Philips LED lighting,” Strauts adds. “We were convinced after seeing the results of the full-LED trial at the SGGW, Poland. The first trial period at the SGGW produced cucumbers with 60% less energy usage and 1.4 liters less water per kilo and achieved 24.8% higher yields.”

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