"The profession of a greenhouse builder is beautiful. The projects are getting bigger and more complex. That is a challenge for techies. And in the end it's all about increasing production capacity." Richard van der Sande, with Certhon, is convinced: "Our generation is on the eve of a (partial) solution to the world's food problem. Great things are about to happen."
Cultivation in new areas
"The increase in scale certainly contributes to this. But also the need for control continues to bring up new questions as well as solutions. So many things are possible. The technology that is on offer meets that need. Greenhouses are built in the most unusual places in the world." Certhon, for example, recently built a greenhouse in Abu Dhabi. Tomatoes are now grown in the middle of the desert. This extreme climate requires high-tech greenhouses. Current technologies meet those requirements.
Exactly one year ago, Certhon opened their Innovation Centre. Here cultivation is done without daylight. Certhon's many years of experience in creating an optimal climate for the plant is optimized here. Richard: "We learn a lot during this research phase. It is very nice to be able to do this ourselves. Our people are very much focusing on measuring and assessing the response of the plant to the climate control. Of course we are going to expand this further, in addition to the continued construction of greenhouses. It is very nice to see the enthusiasm of our people. It is an exciting and beautiful time. Our expectations are very high."
Cultivation without daylight is taking off
Cultivation without daylight is still a niche. Richard expects this to have increased sharply in 10 years. "There are sufficient parties who want to get started with this. There is enough interest. The big advantage is that the cultivation, in the broadest sense of the word, is fully controlled."
For more information:
Certhon
www.certhon.com
info@certhon.com
+31 (01)74 225080
Richard van der Sande
richard.vd.sande@certhon.com