Last week, the annual Knowledge Event for Glasshouse Vegetables was held at Delphy in Bleiswijk, Netherlands In the afternoon, Delphy first took participants through the challenges facing glasshouse vegetable cultivation, such as the upcoming mandatory sustainability reporting (CSRD) and the latest developments in the fields of energy, crop health, cultivation, and digitalization. Aad van den Berg handed over to Eric Poot (manager of the Improvement Centre), Rens Smith (manager of the glasshouse vegetable team), and Klaas van Egmond (manager of Delphy Digital).
Eric Poot (Delphy) and Joost Veenman (Ridder)
Delphy sees digitalization as an important tool to meet the increased knowledge demand from growers, to stay ahead so that the sector can smoothly navigate the current transitions, and to address the upscaling of cultivation companies in terms of cultivation strategy.
Klaas van Egmond, Delphy Digital
Digitalization. It seems like a catch-all term. Much is written about it in the media. Experts and producers come and go. Where are we in the hype cycle? Klaas expects that we have passed the most challenging time. Traditional cultivation management is increasingly shifting towards data-driven cultivation management, and this is unstoppable.
CSRD
Next, Remco Jansen from GTC+ takes the stage. His presentation discusses the added value of CSRD in horticulture. CSRD ... What is that? CSRD stands for Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. It is part of the 'EU Green Deal'. The goal is clear: to increase transparency about the sustainability performance of organizations. The European Union requires (large) companies – including those in the Netherlands – to report on their sustainability performance, strategies, and policies in their annual reports. This will bring a significant change in the business operations of all (large) companies in the Netherlands.
Check out a photo impression of the afternoon here.
Remco: "A lot is coming at companies. Not just the big companies in our sector, but also SMEs must comply with CSRD by 2026. This means that SMEs must have this arranged by 2024 at the latest to be ready for CSRD in 2025." Companies need to start collecting the necessary data in time and schedule time to implement this within the organization.
The CSRD directive is substantial. It requires large enterprises to report on a wide range of topics such as CO2 emissions and social capital, but also on the impact the company has in the chain. In addition to reporting requirements on 'Environmental' and 'Social' aspects, requirements are also set in the area of 'Governance', such as risk management and business conduct. Large enterprises must also report on sustainability aspects that could have a significant impact on the value of the company.
This directive integrates sustainability into all facets of business operations. This means that companies must develop a sustainability strategy and adapt their processes and systems based on this to achieve the set sustainability goals. Since it must be reported in the annual report, it is essential that the company collects the necessary data and ensures its quality. Remco sincerely hopes that everyone has already started developing a sustainability strategy. And emphasizes not to take this lightly: "The deadlines are approaching. Complicated? GTC+ can assist you with this."
The economic importance of greenhouse horticulture in the Netherlands and the role of Lansingerland
Samir Amghar is a strategic advisor on Economic Affairs at the municipality of Lansingerland. With the greenhouse horticulture sector, Lansingerland and the Greenport West-Holland cluster have a significant role and position globally in terms of modern and innovative greenhouse horticulture. Lansingerland is referred to as the Home of Horti Science. Samir explains why and supports this with impressive figures. Check them out here:
Having said that, it's time to unveil the building blocks that should contribute to the Horti Science vision. These are: innovative ecosystem, Horti Science woven into area development, sustainable greenhouse horticulture, vital labor market, vital society, and finally, the positioning of Home of Horti Science.
Workshops / tour of the Improvement Centre
Enough talk. Time to get to work. Visitors could choose three subjects from a palette of 10. At the workshop on 'the digital grower', participants were prompted with the following questions: (1) Which solution impresses in the field of digitalization? and (2) What is the main added value that digitalization should provide in glasshouse vegetable cultivation?
Rudolf de Vetten from Blue Radix saw many answers to the first question in the areas of scouting and sensors. But also, data platforms, LED control, and plant registration apps make an impression.
Max van den Hemel
Max van den Hemel from Delphy Digital gathered the answers in crop optimization and the solution to enable upscaling. Traditional, human-driven cultivation management demands a lot of time and energy from a grower. There is a limit to this. And this limit is approaching as companies grow larger.
Rudolf shows that activities before and after cultivation are further ahead in automation than cultivation itself. "AI is no longer future music. It's current. Blue Radix applies AI to determine settings and can, if desired, also adjust these in the climate computer. Our solutions are aimed at autonomous cultivation management." Rudolf sees positive, measurable results with their clients. By now, that count is at 70 clients, worldwide.
Linda Nooren (Delphy) and Kaz Vermeer (Voltiris) took visitors on a tour of the Improvement Centre
Check out a photo impression of the afternoon here.
For more information:
Delphy
[email protected]
www.delphy.nl