The second half of September saw announcements of several large-scale projects. From Saudi Arabia to Canada, and from the US to the Netherlands, acreages were expanding. There were other interesting things to report on as well, including two trade shows: the Horti China, and Seed meets Technology.
44-hectare greenhouse vegetable complex comes to Saudi Arabia
Dava corporation, owned by the Al Batal family, is forecast to grow in agricultural business since they have entered into a contract for a large-scale turn-key greenhouse…
Almost 200 hectares worldwide
Further growth for biggest Dutch tomato grower
Agro Care, the biggest tomato grower in the Netherlands in terms of acreage, has acquired Greenco's cultivation location in Wieringermeer. The greenhouse, with 10 hectares of…
Dalsem is building 25 hectares for AppHarvest
With a greenhouse area of 25 hectares, ambitious growth plans and a hybrid lighting installation, AppHarvest is one of the most striking horticultural projects at the moment…
Hans van Gellecum, Heritage Farms
CAN (ON): Snack tomato grower builds 18-hectare facility
The horticultural industry in Leamington is growing easily at 50 hectares a year at the moment. Those numbers might not be a surprise when looking at projects like Heritage…
Syngenta opens new Seed Technology Center and Backcross Factory in Enkhuizen
"Crossing genes into parent lines will soon be accelerated by a factor of 2"
"We are sidelining ourselves as Europe, modern breeding techniques are being applied in other parts of the world anyway," says Arend Schot of Syngenta. "I assume that in the…
CAN (QC): Financial aid needed for Les Serres Lefort
Canadian greenhouse grower Les Serres Lefort is in financial trouble. Due to problems in both the organic production and the ability to make money with organic products, they…
Photo report: Horti China 2019
Large scale projects, high-tech greenhouses and big investment plans - but also challenging communication and insecure business relationships. The Chinese market is developing…
Technology increasingly at the service of seed quality and traceability
Seed industry unites at Seed meets Technology 2019
Flow cytometric ploidy determination, chlorophyll scanners, vacuum transport systems: all the stops are pulled out to further optimize the quality of seeds. At the same time,…
Spanish growers take stock of DANA damage
Spanish organizations have upped their estimates of damaged greenhouse acreage due to the extreme weather in Spain. They now speak of 1,000 hectares of greenhouse acreage…
Jan VanderHout, Beverly Greenhouses
Walking the energy tightrope between business and sustainability
Sustainability is a hot topic in the industry. Many growers are looking for ways to increase sustainability in their cultivation, but they also have their bottom line to…
Lighting research consortium brings CEA community industry-ready technologies
Without light, plants can't grow. The continued advance of controlled environment agriculture means that sunlight is often supplemented and in some cases completely replaced…
Growing lettuce locally: How close will you go?
When talking about the future of food production, almost everybody agrees that food can be produced much closer to the consumer. Especially when looking at the US lettuce…
40 years of climate screens: from dark to diffuse
"When it turned out that screens also saved energy, demand grew enormously"
Exactly 40 years ago Ludvig Svensson delivered his first climate screen to a Swedish grower who - looking for a sun protection screen - approached the neighboring textile…
Propagators united: Welcome to Number-land
More than 100 propagation companies were in the Netherlands this week. They were invited by Grodan - the company organized the International Propagation Seminar for the eighth…
Cherry tomatoes cultivated remotely
Second Autonomous Greenhouses Challenge promises to be even more challenging
Last year the Autonomous Greenhouses Challenge of Wageningen University & Research already demonstrated that it is possible to grow cucumbers 'remotely'. This year the…