The Norwegian Research Council has approved an application from fresh produce trading organization BAMA for a project that can contribute to increasing production and value creation in the greenhouse industry. Together with growers' association Gartnerhallen and Yara, they will look into new varieties and the use of artificial light.
More Norwegan greenhouse production
Bama Gruppen supplies fresh products to the NorgesGruppen's supermarket. The company has announced to focus on more Norwegian greenhouse production. "The overall idea is to create value growth with the goal of increased Norwegian production and increased consumption of, among other things, cucumbers and tomatoes in an increasingly sustainable way."
Despite unrest and concerns about high energy prices, BAMA strongly believes that this part of the fruit and vegetable industry constitutes an important part of the potential for increased Norwegian production of our goods. "We therefore want to contribute to making Norwegian greenhouse production competitive with imports. We do this by developing even more sustainable production with good quality", says Alvhild Hedstein, Executive Vice President for Sustainability and Innovation in the BAMA Group.
Among other things, the project wants to improve the utilization of natural light and the use of LED technology in the industry. "New and better solutions can make production more environmentally friendly and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by, among other things, colliding with natural light. Smart control and use of LED lamps with adapted climate control will increase the availability of greenhouse products as well as reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions per product", says Alvhild.
New varieties
Central to the project is also testing of new varieties of tomatoes that will meet Norwegian consumer preferences. These varieties, together with all the other tomato varieties grown by the producers of growers association Gartnerhallen, will be included in the testing of a new system for taste testing against the consumer. The tool will be set up on a digital platform.
As part of the EU's Farm to fork strategy, a methodology for life cycle analysis is being developed to look at the environmental footprint of food products. The project will develop this to work under Nordic conditions. This will form the basis for a digital tool for strategic environmental analyzes of different production methods for Norwegian greenhouses compared with imported products, she says.
Interdisciplinary collaboration between the three research environments NORSUS, Sintef and NIBIO, in collaboration with BAMA, Yara, growers association Gartnerhallen and the Gartnerhallen will ensure research with high quality and relevance as well as implementation of the innovations in the industry.
Read more about the award on the Research Council's website