A trial with autonomous vegetable cultivation is currently underway in Japan. “The trial, conducted by Delphy, is exceeding expectations,” Aad van den Berg, managing director at the knowledge company, told Innovation Quarter.
The trial used software that was developed together with software developers from outside the sector. In this way they want to benefit from knowledge of other sectors.
The greenhouse is fully controlled by software. “We are currently working on fine-tuning the settings of, for example, the CO2, the humidification and the airing. In the short term, we hope to start pilots in the Netherlands, in close collaboration with a number of growers.”
Acceptance
Aad does not know whether the software as it is currently running in Japan will soon be on the market here. “First, we want to be fully convinced of how it works. The software runs well in Japan, but that may not be good enough for Dutch growers. And the acceptance among Dutch growers is more cautious than that of growers abroad. This is due to the high degree of knowledge in the Netherlands. We are also very aware that the software has a direct effect on the companies of the growers who work with it. You could say: we play with their money. You have to do that very seriously.”
Delphy is working on digitization in a total of four crops in Innovation Quarter’s AgriTech innovation programme. Until June 21, 2021, companies in South Holland can request an innovation voucher up to a maximum of 100,000 euros to validate a new technology.
In the case of Delphy, organic cultivation is currently in the following four crops: tomato, cucumber, chrysanthemum and strawberry.
The AgriTech innovation program aims to remove barriers to sharing green knowledge and combining it with technological innovations. Most cultivation knowledge (‘green knowledge’) resides in the minds of growers and also with advisers. Digitizing this knowledge is an important step towards autonomous cultivation. Knowledge company Delphy is currently doing this for four crops: tomato, cucumber, chrysanthemum and strawberry. A first trial with autonomous cultivation is exceeding expectations. Aad van den Berg, managing director at Delphy: “We want to make green knowledge more independent of people.
Source: Innovation Quarter
For more information:
Delphy
www.delphy.nl
