“2022 was a challenging year, but we still did a great job completing many projects in China," said Benjamin Devillard, General Manager of Hoogendoorn China, "The Jingdong Project is one of our latest projects completed last year. This project covers an area of 647 acres and is jointly built and operated by Yu Nong, Greenport, and Jingdong; mainly growing high-value crops such as large tomatoes and cucumbers. The greenhouse uses Hoogendoorn’s latest all-in-one process computer - IIVO and has been running smoothly for some time now."
Benjamin Devillard
Continued bullishness on the Chinese market
Benjamin commented on his view of the future of the Chinese market, "The horticulture industry in China will still have a large growth potential. On one hand, changing demographics, rising incomes, and shifting consumer preferences for healthier and higher-quality food will spur industry growth. Also, as available arable land decreases, the government has prioritized developing efficient and modern agriculture."
"Secondly, as the understanding of greenhouse technology increases, more people will join the industry and the market will see various growth prospects in the coming years. What can be seen is that various large companies are joining the agriculture track, with different launching points from the growing end to the retail end. The horticulture market in China is also complicated, with many large Internet companies like Jingdong and Alibaba entering the market and looking for opportunities."
The right long-term strategy can lead to a good ROI ratio
Generally speaking, crops produced via greenhouses have better quality and are healthier than traditional production. But at the same time, the investment costs and operating costs are much higher than those of conventional farming. This requires that growers have excellent management skills and the right configuration.
"At Hoogendoorn, our IIVO computer continuously monitors energy, water, and climate, enabling growers to grow more and better quality products with minimal use of resources."
The LetsGrow.com data platform provides smart data-driven solutions for growers, advisors, and investors worldwide. Using the latest techniques such as vision and Artificial Intelligence, LetsGrow.com helps the grower gain insight into the most optimal cultivation process and find the missing link in a cultivation strategy.
More and more grower consultants are using this platform to provide services to improve the horticultural industry. Using the right product configuration will help growers reduce operational risk. Developing a long-term strategy will ensure a good return on investment ratio.
"On the other hand, we also need to continue to educate consumers so that they believe that products grown in greenhouses are safer, more reliable, and healthier and are more willing to pay more."
In addition, growing crops that do not grow well in open fields is also a direction to take. This requires very careful research at the very beginning, figuring out where to grow, what kind of crops to grow, what energy sources to use, etc., before the project starts.
In general, greenhouse production has obvious advantages over field production, such as monitoring growth conditions and appropriate maintenance techniques to ensure year-round production. The development of facility agriculture, in line with 'Chinese modernization,' is the future direction of long-term development.
For more information:
林志强Marlon Lin
Hoogendoorn
Email: lzq@hoogendoorn.asia
https://www.hoogendoorn.nl/zh-hans/