In the year of the switch from yellow to red peppers, C. Zwinkels Paprika Kwekerij started working with software from Source. It provides growers with a better overview and higher turnover, as they are now better able to produce large peppers and also produce more. So says head grower Arus Biersteker.
The pepper grower grows peppers on 20 hectares in Wevershoof. The company sells the peppers through Harvest House. For years, these were yellow peppers, but in 2022 the growers decided to switch to red. As any experienced grower knows, with new varieties come new challenges. Arus wanted to work with Source.ag to explore whether it would allow the company to create an optimally profitable growing program for its three greenhouses, each accounting for about 7 hectares.
"It is certainly challenging to have and maintain a constant and clear overview when you have three greenhouses. Important details are easily overlooked, and it can be difficult to stay on track, especially with a new variety. Because you have to spread time per greenhouse, you have to be able to make quick decisions, sometimes without having information you would like to have."
Aphid problem
It is a challenge to keep the weight of red peppers constant throughout the season, especially the Alzamora pepper variety, the grower indicates. "When plants stretch too far too early in the season, this variety does not perform well by weight by the end of the season."
The pepper grower also had a problem with a new type of aphids in 2022. This led growers to stop growing earlier. This cost them 2 kg/m2 (on top of the €0.50/m2 extra labor cost).
"A lot of data"
In the summer of 2022, growers contacted Source.ag. The Source Track dashboard was rolled out to provide key data for the new crop, and the Source App to measure plants for coarseness and constancy.
"Climate computers show a lot of data which can make it difficult to spot the root of problems," as they observe with Source. "Especially for new, less experienced growers, this can be difficult," co-founder Ernst van Bruggen knows.
Source Track is a hardware-neutral platform that measures, compares, and improves crops. Source Track helps growers manage many hectares efficiently. It provides growers with a platform to keep track of all the data relevant to a crop, and it generates and shares insights through various facilities so that growers get a broad overview of all their operations.
Status overview
Since using Source Track, pepper growers in Wevershoof have been receiving a status overview of the key performance indicators (KPIs) of their three greenhouses. Among the things the growers track with the software are: irrigation to light ratio, plant weight, drainage, and slab moisture content after the first irrigation round, after sunset, and total.
By simulating plant growth and supporting the promotion of photosynthesis, Source Track clearly indicates when the key performance indicators at C. Zwinkels' pepper crop are well on their way. This helps Arus to make the best decisions - based on data.
Ernst van Bruggen, CPO and co-founder of Source.ag: "Source Track provides a simple and intuitive dashboard that shows all the KPIs that matter for optimal cultivation. The data-driven insights can be viewed anywhere at any time of the day. This provides growers with a continuous overview of all operations."
Compare
Source Track also provides the pepper grower with the means to work towards a strategically optimized crop plan and gives the ability to compare the results achieved with the original growth plan. With more accurate seasonal planning, growers can determine whether speeding up is necessary or not.
"Even on my day off, I can check if everything is going well and according to plan. On one page, I have an overview of all the important aspects of my crop."
Looking further ahead
At Source, they saw that growers found it difficult to have a clear overview of multiple greenhouses. With Source, C. Zwinkels has one status overview with the most important KPIs of all three greenhouses. Arus: "With a climate computer, growers could not see the connections and relationships between the graphs and the KPIs. With Source, they can, and this information is displayed very simply."
In addition, growers can also start looking at new and previously unknown KPIs in Source as the platform provides detailed insights for new crops. Arus explains how Source supports him in monitoring historical timelines and trends, whereas previously, the climate computer only showed him the current status of each KPI.
He can now see the connections between graphs and KPIs. "This gives me a clearer overview of the current state of my cultivation process and, of course, any adjustments and decisions I need to make about it. With Source, I can also look further ahead, and by using real data, my forecasts are much more accurate. I can see how much fruit I can expect by looking at the number of flowers I have registered in the app."
Example of pepper cultivation as displayed in the Source Plant App
Relying on climate computers can be time-consuming, and junior growers do not always have the experience to get to the root of the problems, Arus notes. "With Source, we have one overview with the status of our most important KPIs from our three greenhouses."
Turnover growth
Since C. Zwinkels started using Source, the company has made significant growth in sales - both in spring and autumn - mainly because they can now produce the popular larger but also better peppers.
Before the implementation of the technology, the peppers often did not reach the desired weight towards the end of the growing season. After implementing Source, pepper growers can now grow peppers with 10% more weight throughout the season. This is due to better cultivation decisions during the season, resulting in more peppers from the main stem. "These are heavier and grow faster."
C. Zwinkels can now sell as much as 80-90% of the peppers during the last three weeks of the season. By comparison, in previous years, this was 50%.
New insights
"A wrong decision can make or break a season: if the crops do not go in the right direction at the beginning of the season, it is difficult to be profitable. With Source, I can look much more accurately into the future. Instead of spending hours looking at the climate computers, Source now tells me the status of my crops and indicates abnormal behavior so that I can make adjustments straight away."
Source also motivates growers to measure new KPIs they hadn't thought of before. "These give us more detailed insights about new crops. KPIs like irrigation-to-light ratio, plant weight, drainage, and absorption are all factors that have contributed to growing peppers with 10% more weight and that throughout the season."
For more information:
Source.ag 
[email protected]
www.source.ag