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Rhode Island: Plant Environmental Center's rooftop oasis "conserves precious green space"

At the Plant Environmental Center, located on the rooftop of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, plants ranging from a bonsai tree over 25 years old to a collection of cycads - a prehistoric plant - find a space to grow and bloom. The Center consists of six computer-controlled greenhouses…

newtimes.co.rw

Rwanda: Vertically stacked strawberry farm focusing on hydroponics

Rwanda needs at least Rwf 68.5 billion in the next two years or so to invest in hydroponic farming. The Ministry of Agriculture says it has earmarked 38.1 hectares on which to conduct hydroponic farming by 2024 as it steps up efforts to increase food production. However, in order to achieve its…

New mobile procurement platform simplifies online ordering and inventory management

Institutional food operators often use traditional processes to procure products and take inventories; think pencils, paper, clipboards, and scurrying to a desktop computer to…

Ultrasonic battle against algae and micro-organisms into focus

As every grower knows, algae, bacteria, and fungi thrive in silos and basins, where algae and biofilm like to attach themselves to the basin and silo lining. Algae are responsible for the often green color of the water, and this algae deposit has a negative impact on water quality and leads to additional…

Bringing broccoli to kids for National School Lunch Week

Bayer, in collaboration with Nature’s Reward and the United Fresh Start Foundation, is promoting a kid-friendly broccoli, just in time to celebrate National School Lunch Week, October 11-15. This week, fresh from the field, broccoli, from Bayer’s High Rise™ Broccoli series, was made available to students…

Ocean Mist Farms announces new President and kicks off Cardone season

Ocean Mist Farms announces the promotion of Christopher Drew to president and chief executive officer. Drew is responsible for leading all commercial, operational, financial, and administrative aspects of Ocean Mist Farms. His role will require the analysis and evaluation of product line offerings,…

NIAB's crop improvement and resilience program finds new leader

NIAB has appointed Dr. Sigrid Heuer to lead its pre-breeding department and develop a program on trait dissection and gene discovery for crop improvement and resilience,…

Spanish biotech company wins agtech award

Idai Nature, a Spanish biotechnology company member of Rovensa Group, has received the award as the best AgTech of the year in the Go Global Awards of the International Trade…

Light Science Technology Holdings trades on London Stock Exchange

Light Science Technologies Holdings has announced its flotation on the London Stock Exchange, as the group sets out its growth plans for the CEA market over the next few…

Foodiverse hires new CEO

Foodiverse, a Spanish company specialized in fresh products, has announced the appointment of Jesús Gómez as the company’s new CEO. Jesús Gómez comes into this role having served as Managing Director…

Past lessons helped Dutch sprout specialist weather the pandemic

For Van der Plas Sprouts, last year might not have been as crazy as 2011, when, during the EHEC crisis, the Dutch sprout specialist lost 70% of its sales within 24 hours. Unfortunately, the company was not entirely left untouched by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, 18 months into it, the worst seems to be over.…

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The pros and cons of pheromones in crop protection

Certis Europe is a company that provides Biorationals, registered plant protection products generally derived from the natural environment. Among their products are micro-organisms, natural substances, and pheromones, and all products are officially registered under the crop protection guidelines. One of…

Modern technology adoption hold the keys to future-proofing fresh produce industry

If a horticultural company is not embracing change on their farms, then there is no way they can improve, and are thus becoming stagnant or risking going backwards, according to a leading agriculture entrepreneur. Jack Milbank, CEO of Lexi Tech Pte Ltd (AgPro) says that even if a business is doing well,…

"Sales of first Canary Island tomatoes going smoothly, but a good year is desperately needed too"

Last week, the first round and plum tomatoes of the Canary Islands season arrived at Fortuna Frutos in the Netherlands. "The crop is perfect, so we can say this is a good start. We still have plenty of imported tomatoes, and a lot of the Dutch tomatoes are already finished. Customers are looking for problem-free import…

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Prices for cherry tomatoes in Uzbekistan hit record highs again

EastFruit analysts note record high prices for cherry tomatoes in Uzbekistan this season. Over the past two months, their average wholesale prices have doubled, and the current price levels are 7 times higher than in the same period in 2020. In mid-August, EastFruit wrote about a decrease in prices for…

'Spanish snake cucumbers took off massively'

Spanish snake cucumbers took off massively, taking the lead in the market. Dutch and domestic offers followed, and Belgian shipments completed the market. In Munich, there were also Greek lots from midweek onwards. The end of the season for Central European products is imminent. Volume-induced, their…

"We demand better from the Biden administration"

More than 65 United States-based growers and food and trade justice advocates have delivered a letter to the Biden administration urging the U.S. government to fundamentally…

Turkish farmers faced with severe droughts

Thousands of farmers across Turkey have had their livelihoods ravaged as so little rain has fallen to nourish their crops for the past two years. Some experts accuse President…

Restart for Trias Westland in sight during symbolic opening

On Wednesday, 13 October, Trias Westland was opened with growers, Jan-Kees Goet, Secretary-General of LNV, and Sandor Gaastra, Director-General of EZK. With two geothermal wells at a depth of 2.3 km and a 4 km exploration well, Trias Westland is, according to all those involved, 'the springboard for the…

“Probiotics can lower the negative impacts of plant stress responses”

“In hydroponics, there are fewer microbes. With fewer beneficial microbes, the plants are on their own to cope with different stresses. At Ceragen, we want to restore the ecosystem,” says Danielle Rose, CEO at Ceragen. Ceragen is a Canadian biotechnology company that develops probiotics, or microbial…

Concerns in India about delay approval of gene-editing guidelines

India Agriculture Advancement Group (IAAG) International writes to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, expressing serious concern on the inordinate delay in the…

Packaging machine works with plastic and alternative materials

The Wrap Box machine is a valid solution for the protection of citrus fruits, apricots, cherries, kiwis, apples, tomatoes, pears, peaches and grapes, just to mention a few. It works on cardboard or wooden boxes of different shapes and sizes. The Bologna-based company GNA srl is now offering its Wrap Box wrapping…

Recycled plastic films for greenhouse coverings

Agriplast is a company that produces plastic films for the Italian agricultural and horticultural industry. They are currently using 7 and 5 layer blown film systems and the entire chain is controlled by IT systems.  "Our machines are not only concerned with the quality aspect of the product, they also influence environmental…

AU: Public wants Government to back compostable packaging over recycling

Responding to a landmark new poll, almost 8 out of 10 Australian adults (78%) believe using compostable packaging is a more effective solution to the plastic waste crisis than recycling plastic. Almost 9 out of 10 (89%) are concerned about the plastic waste generated from packaging, and a further 79%…

Waddington Europe offers new punnet that's easier to recycle, using less plastic

European thermoforming packager Waddington® Europe, a division of Novolex®, has launched a new 100% mono-material protective soft-fruit punnet thanks to the company's MONOAIR™ cushion technology. Traditionally, punnet bases require an additional layer of bubble padding attached with a glue adhesive to…

How developing a better connection with consumers helps boost fresh fruit and vegetable consumption

One of Australia's leading food writers says growers need to connect with consumers not only to push the message surrounding their produce, but also to listen to what is important to them, as the appetite grows for healthy eating. Alice Zaslavsky, author of the book "In Praise of Veg" says she interacts…

New gel growing medium for better propagator growth announced

Proterra Ag announces a new gel grow medium, HYPERroots™, which aims to enable propagators to achieve higher yields consistently, with minimal OpEx. Testing in CEA and with conventional outdoor growers shows that, compared to other existing substrates, "HYPERroots reduce the amount of water required to…

RF Agriculture

The benefits of coco coir in hydroponics

In a hydroponic system, a grower does not use traditional media. Instead, other media are employed to provide a safe and secure growing area for plant roots. Of these media, one of the most popular is coco coir, which offers many benefits that make this media a go-to for the majority of all growers in…

Organic shoppers demand sustainable packaging

Recent research indicates that businesses selling organic products can gain a competitive advantage by using more circular, sustainable packaging.  A Soil Association survey found that over half (55%) of consumers expect organic fresh produce packaging to have a low or no environmental impact. Two out of five…

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Global food security index shows overall decline

Today, Economist Impact released the 10th annual Global Food Security Index (GFSI), which revealed a decline in global food security for the second consecutive year. The GFSI aims to serve as a resource to enable a more resilient and secure food system. Now, with a decade of data, the global report…

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Denmark announces 1 billion kroner for plant-based foods

The Danish government has announced over 1.25 billion kroner (€168 million) in funding to advance plant-based foods, as part of an unprecedented climate agreement for food and agriculture. This funding is the largest investment in plant-based research and development by any EU country to date.  The agreement,…

New center focusing on packaging at IPM Essen 2022

The ecological awareness of consumers is steadily increasing, and international horticulture is facing the challenge of responding to the growing desire for more…

Tesco applies strict measures for UK growers

Tesco has announced a strengthening of the environmental standards required by its 14,000 fresh produce growers, by implementing the LEAF Marque environmental assurance scheme…

"We can focus more on quality and how the product satisfies consumer needs”

“In vertical farming, it is interesting how quickly the industry has grown without specific varieties or seeds developed for that purpose,” says John Purcell, CEO and president of Unfold. The California-based company has made its mission the development of seeds and varieties and digital solutions for…

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Farming Union slams Brexit & Covid for 'record' 34% fruit and vegetable picker shortage

The president of the National Farmers' Union, Minette Batters, claimed chaotic shortages of workers are leading to the carnage in Britain's food distribution networks as producers are thought to have binned an estimated "£16 billion" worth of food already in Britain. Food is sitting unpicked on British…

TSRgrow

"Real time and historical data will keep you in peak performance"

TSRgrow has expanded its lighting, power, and environmental control and monitoring platform, GROWHub™. "GROWHub is a cultivator's autopilot solution that allows you to manage, track, and control your cultivation environment," the TSRgrow team explains. "GROWHub provides real-time and historical data to…

Smaller California farms hamstrung by drought and water shortages

As the drought continues to worsen, many water-use limitations and regulations will be enforced upon all California residents and businesses. Several restrictions have already…

WUR

"Millions of people suffer from a lack of healthy food"

Millions of people in Asia and Africa suffer not so much from a lack of food, but from a lack of healthy food. Simply put, fruits and vegetables are more expensive and less readily available than less nutrient-rich food. In addition, agricultural policies and development programs have focused almost…