If only plants weren't plants, but were controllable like computers. Wouter Kuiper, CEO of the Kubo Group, can see how that would bring a solution for the horticultural industry - both growers and greenhouse builders, who are being overcharged these days due to the rising demand for safely grown food and cannabis greenhouses worldwide. "Both our company KUBO and the Westland region as a whole are equipped for linear growth, not on the exponential expansion the industry asks for. The technique being used in the horticultural industry worldwide is complicated - that's why the results are so remarkable, but that makes the industry not easy to enter. There simply aren't enough growers, operational managers or greenhouse builders available to respond to the rising demand for greenhouses and greenhouse grown produce worldwide."
High-tech and plug-and-play
It might seem like an unusual solution for a man whose company is built on the market for high-tech greenhouses, but according to Wouter a solution would be simplifying horticulture. "Growing has to become easy, it has to become plug-and-play. It's the only way we can answer to the expanding market. If you can connect the crop to the computer and grow according to the information from this computer, a big part of the problem would be solved." Wouter also explained how this would, in the end, benefit the greenhouse suppliers. "The technique is still applicable, the supplies are still important and the knowledge is as well, but the benefits are accessible worldwide instead of just on the location where the expert is."
Westland Event: cooperation
Wouter explained his vision this Wednesday at the Westland Event, a yearly get-together for the Westland region in general and the horticultural industry especially. Subjects of conversation were the image and the position of the Westland Region. On one hand the area is praised widely, as shown in the recent publication of National Geographic, How a tiny Country feeds the World'. On the other hand, difficulties are looming: a tiny country is nothing more than a tiny country and according to Marco van Leeuwen (managing director Rijk Zwaan) cooperation in the Westland is not a natural, but is a needed product for the industry. A company showing this is Ter Laak Orchids, producing worldwide with local partners.