The greenhouse technology market is booming. UV-C robots, autonomous platforms, scouting systems, and other data-driven crop protection tools are arriving quickly. "While many show genuine promise, growers face a major challenge: determining which solutions truly fit their crop, greenhouse layout, disease pressure, labor situation, and economic reality", says Andrei Chabaline. "Croptiq was founded to bridge that gap."
Croptiq, a Spain-based independent advisory company, was established by him. It helps growers of strawberries, cucumbers, and other protected crops evaluate, before any purchase, whether UV-C robotics or similar autonomous systems are a practical fit for their operation. Importantly, Croptiq does not sell hardware and remains fully independent from manufacturers and distributors.
"Growers have plenty of technology options," says Andrei. "What they often lack is an independent, honest assessment of whether a solution will deliver results in their own greenhouse, with their crop and labor model. We are not trying to slow down innovation. We want to raise the quality of technology adoption so the right systems succeed and unsuitable ones don't waste time and money."
Three-step process
Croptiq follows a structured three-step process: Assess – Recommend – Verify. During assessment, the company analyses crop type, disease history, greenhouse infrastructure, canopy structure, available treatment windows, climate conditions, labor availability, and expected return on investment.
Based on this, Croptiq provides a clear recommendation: yes, no, or not yet.
Once a system is installed, the verification phase evaluates whether the technology delivers the required UV dose, achieves the expected biological impact on disease pressure, and performs reliably under real operating conditions.
To promote transparency from the start, Croptiq has released several free online tools at their website. "The ROI Explorer enables growers to build their own scenarios and test outcomes related to yield protection, labor savings, reduced chemical use, and investment costs. The CropTIQ Advisor provides practical answers to questions concerning crops, disease pressure, UV-C application strategies, and broader crop protection approaches. Additionally, an interactive strawberry UV-C model illustrates how robotic UV-C treatments can influence powdery mildew development through the season, while highlighting practical risks such as canopy shading, dose uniformity, and treatment timing", Chabaline shows.
The CropTIQ Advisor is powered by Croptiq's internal, curated knowledge base rather than the open internet. "There is plenty of useful information online, but also many unverified or overly optimistic claims," explains Chabaline. "When growers ask serious technical questions, they deserve reliable answers. If the Advisor reaches its limit, it refers them back to us through the website, where we take it further."
Croptiq does not compete with technology suppliers. Its goal is better decision-making for everyone involved: clearer investment decisions for growers and better-prepared projects for suppliers.
"UV-C robotics have a real future in protected horticulture," concludes Chabaline. "But they only deliver lasting value when they match the biological and operational reality of the individual farm. At Croptiq, we always start with the crop and the grower's specific situation, never with the machine."
For more information:
Croptiq
[email protected]
www.croptiq.com
