The delivery of new products from the Greenhouse plant has begun to the grocery supermarkets of the regional center. The company has launched the production of fresh salads and a Japanese line of micro-greens. And it does not exclude access to the markets of other regions of Russia.
Correspondent Amur.info went on an excursion to the salad shop of the combine. Here, in a vertical greenhouse of impressive size, specialists grow Iceberg lettuce, arugula, spinach, frillis, maximus, vintex and other popular types of greens that fans of a healthy lifestyle add to their diet.
— This area of 260 squares allows you to grow around 54 tons of salad products per year. We have been working in this direction for the second month, as an experiment. This is a new technology, it was necessary to try it out, to see how plants will behave under artificial lighting in an enclosed space that is beyond the control of nature. We see that everything is growing very well, developing, so the goods are already coming to the shelves,” says the general director of the enterprise Andrey Lozovsky.
The freshest and delicious leaves are sold both in pots and in slices, in portions, for 55-80 grams. Such a bundle will be able to decorate a portion of salad and reveal the full range of its taste and useful qualities. After all, the greenery grown in modern greenhouses is no different from the one that rose under the rays of the sun. Experts ask gourmets not to forget that greens are best consumed in the first three days after cutting – so the body will receive the maximum amount of vitamins.
— Cultivation begins with the preparation of peat soil. After placing seeds in it, cassettes with seedlings are transferred to the germination chamber, which has its own individual microclimate. Here the humidity is 90-95% and the temperature is from 20 to 23 degrees. It takes two to four days for the seeds to awaken. As soon as the seed has woken up, we transfer it to the seedling zone. Here the cassettes are on special pallets, which are watered by hydroponics, and the plants receive a nutrient solution. As the leaf grows, we determine when it is time for the seedling to move to the main growth zone. It has seven shelves. Each has one or two cultures and its own specific nutrition, as well as the pH content. Here the plants are from 16 to 24 days, after which we pack them and send them for sale,” says Marina Bondar, an agronomist of the Vertical Farm department.
Only nine specialists are engaged in all this process on a vertical farm. And everyone is warm to their work – there is no other way here. Plants feel everything. As Marina Bondar noted: “Every seed has its own energy.”
— If we take a complete list of products, then our company can be called one of the largest in Russia. We plan to explore new markets, mainly in the Far East. According to the need, we will supply goods to more remote regions,” Andrei Lozovsky shared his plans.
The head of the enterprise noted: the plant is also ready to work under sanctions. All the necessary equipment for cultivation has been purchased, and in case of unforeseen circumstances, alternative opportunities have been found. For example, the masters of the combine have already managed to repair foreign-made equipment on their own.
— The resourcefulness of our specialists has no limits, – said the head of the plant.
— We are not going to limit our imagination, we want to try to grow absolutely everything, as long as the buyer accepts it. Last year we founded a Japanese line: it includes turnips, pak choi, mizuna, we want to try to grow it on a vertical farm. We have two new crops – white cabbage and spinach, and this is far from the limit of our capabilities. It is not difficult to grow in our conditions, we will expand, – says Marina Bondar.
A greenhouse plant is an example of adaptation to new conditions of existence. The company has been supplying fresh tomatoes and cucumbers of several varieties to the shelves of stores in the Amur region for many years. Now supermarket shelves have been replenished with salad products and micro-greens. The company’s specialists hint that there are still many surprises ahead, and they are all healthy and delicious.
A source: https://amur.info
