The recent expansion at Geoponica started by the end of 2015; the structures are up and once again French greenhouse builder Richel is doing its best to deliver the turn key project in time. Eventually, Geoponica has plans to grow even further, as they have space available for a total of 50 hectares of greenhouses on their land at the Agropark. "All of the facilities for packing, irrigation and energy are designed and ready with a capacity for more than 50 hectares. Step by step we are expanding, but it requires time and a good managing strategy in order to do this properly", said Richard Billekens. "You can not grow to 25 or 50 hectares in one year of course."
Management strategy
But growing on such a large scale requires a well thought out strategy. As the owners of Geoponica have an industrial background, they have organized a well thought out system structure within the company. "Using Priva Assist and other ERP software it allows us to have on time information to improve our process control and thus guarantee our clients get high quality products. It's our mission to be a reliable and sustainable producer, both on the customer side and on the management side of the company. Sustainability also means that you need to work as efficiently as possible with the people you have, and thanks to our strong HR department we are able to get the most out of our people and keep the rotation rates as low as possible."
Screens
The new 8 hectare greenhouse has the latest technology from Richel. It will be more or less similar to the current greenhouses of Geoponica; fully equipped with high end technology such as pipe rail heating, gutters, CO2 dosing and insect netting. "This time we will also install a screen system in 3 hectares", Richard said. "This is sort of an experiment, we try to see what energy savings we can get as well as what quantity and better quality we can achieve by using energy screens." Richard truly believes that a screen can contribute in all aspects, to a better bell pepper cultivation in Mexico."For example, when you have a cool night, with temperatures below five degrees Celsius, then you will need a pipe of 60-70 degrees Celsius. Unlike a tomato crop, a bell pepper crop does not like it when the pipe is hotter than 50 degrees. When you have a screen you can keep more energy inside during these cold nights and bring the pipe to a lower temperature. Hopefully the trial will convince us at Geoponica of the benefits of a screen installation."
If not, the screen system still remains very useful for them. "The section with the screens might be used as a propagation facility in the near future, because when we reach a total of 50 hectares it can be very useful to have our own propagation facility."
Year round production
Richard explained that the expansion is partly driven by Geoponica's ambition to grow bell peppers year round. "We see that there is a chance in the market to grow all year round, there is enough light available, but you will need to have the right technology, space and experience available."Normally, a typical greenhouse producer in Mexico plants his crops from June to July. Geoponica plans to move some of the plantings forward and plant sooner, in January. They try to arrange several planting strategies that will allow them to have strong crops available during the most difficult times of the year. Also a screen installation might be useful to contribute to this, and give the crop more endurance to pull through this difficult period and make enough production during the summer.
" By doing so, we will be able to grow a quality product that can compete with domestic production in the U.S. and Canada. Of course you will need to make the right arrangements with your customers, you must be able to rely on each other and have good price arrangements to be able to compete on the market, but there is definitely a possibility."
Richard Billekens (e-mail)