Tony Bundock, Senior
Instructor—Controlled Environment Horticulture, from the National
Precision Growing Centre at Chisholm Institute of TAFE in Victoria,
Haifa Australia agronomists Shaul Gilan and Peter Anderson, and NSW
grower Greg Jarman, of Corindi, near Coffs Harbour, attended an
international conference in the Netherlands, which was coordinated by
Haifa in conjunction with horticulture experts at Wageningen University
and Research Centre (WUR) in Bleiswijk.
The two-day conference also was attended by delegates from Africa,
England, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Scandinavia, Spain and Turkey.
Tony Bundock discusses the operation of a Vialux water treatment system with delegates.
Presented by University faculty members, the event covered basic
plant nutrition, principles of fertilisation in greenhouse crops,
nutrient management and future trends in fertilisation.
Delegates also toured a nearby commercial seedling nursery and
research facilities investigating greenhouse water treatment systems;
artificial lighting solutions, including LED lights; growing systems,
including floating pots; and aspects of greenhouse design. Other
experiments involved diverse topics, such as algae production, growing
systems for annual flower production and evaluation of trial
material from plant breeders.
Delegates also toured the enormous Leo Ammerlaan seedling production
facility located near the Wageningen University and Research Centre
(WUR) in Bleiswijk. The greenhouse facility, which comprises more
than 25 hectares spread over four sites, produces 10 million vegetable
seedlings in rockwool containers annually. The family-owned company
specialises in capsicums, tomatoes, eggplant and cucumber seedlings.
Vegetables represent only 75% of the annual output, with the
balance including various flowers such as orchids, roses, bedding plants
and pot plants.
At the time of the tour, only cucumbers were in the vegetable
nursery. Tomato, eggplant and capsicum already were planted in growers’
greenhouses. While not permitted to photograph the cucumber Water
treatment systems using both ultra violet and hydrogen peroxide are
being evaluated for water sterilising efficacy.
Use of LED technology in crop growing
New greenhouse design is evaluated in structures built to minimise
energy use and maximise crop production. In one structure, light is
focused by innovative roof design on to photo-voltaic cells suspended
above the crop. Extra light energy, not required by the crop, is
utilised to produce electricity for heating and other purposes. CO²
enrichment is used in some crops and produced as a by-product of burning
natural gas for heating. In the low energy greenhouse, this extra CO²
is collected and supplied to growers from a nearby industrial area. The
aim of this research is to produce crops using the energy that can be
supplied by the greenhouse itself, with no additional energy input.
Artificial lighting is used in the production of seedlings and
for short periods during winter for some greenhouse vegetable crops. The
research is based on a cost comparison of existing conventional
grow-lights with newer LED technology. Reports so far indicate no
advantage with the LED systems compared with the current, energetically
expensive grow lamps.
While not permitted to photograph the cucumber seedlings, Haifa
Australia Agronomist Peter Anderson said Australian growers would have
been surprised at the advancement of the seedlings.
“In rockwool containers, the more advanced seedlings were already at
flowering stage and were connected to small stakes to keep the 30-40
centimetre vines off the ground,’’ Peter said.
“Many eggplant and tomato seedlings are grafted onto disease-resistant rootstock on site.
“Grading of the seedlings for size is carried out using automated
camera graders, with seedlings being graded into three sizes to ensure
uniformity of growth when planted out in customers’ production
facilities.’’
The nursery is provided with artificial light, while all areas of the
greenhouses can be enriched with CO² to promote faster and more
efficient growth.
Various irrigation systems are used. A flood and drain system,
overhead sprinklers and a travelling boom irrigator can all be used on
all crops at various stages.
All irrigation is connected to the fertigation system, which applies
fertiliser from a conventional two-tank hydroponic set-up. The
fertilisers used for the two tanks—in the familiar ‘Tank A’ and ‘Tank B’
arrangement—are supplied by Haifa and contain all of the
macro-elements, plus iron required by the growers. Micro elements, such
as copper, zinc and molybdenum, are supplied separately.
The strong response to the international conference has prompted plans for another event in April, 2014 in the Netherlands, whilst Chisholm and Haifa Australia are planning a similar event in September of this year. More details will be posted on both events as further information becomes available.
With thanks to PH&G – May 2013 – Issue 131
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