Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Vertical Farming World Congress Kicks Off With Remote Site Visits
Aerofarms in the United States, Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) in the United Kingdom, Root AI (United States), Uns Farms from the United Arab Emirates, and YesHealth Group in Taiwan all opened their doors to virtual visitors, by means of videos showcasing what their operations are all about
Under normal circumstances, participants in the Vertical Farming World Congress, organized by Zenith Global, would have been able to visit some vertical farming sites, see the lights, sample some produce, talk to the farm managers. With the global pandemic still raging, however, the organizers decided to take the event online. As part of that move into the virtual domain, participants were able to 'visit' some vertical farms from the comfort of their own home.
Aerofarms in the United States, Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) in the United Kingdom, Root AI (United States), Uns Farms from the United Arab Emirates, and YesHealth Group in Taiwan all opened their doors to virtual visitors, by means of videos showcasing what their operations are all about.
The presentation program was then kicked off by Richard Hall, Chairman of Zenith Global, who introduced the first speaker: Ellis Janssen, Global Director City Farming at Signify. The Dutch lighting supplier has put increasing attention on developing products for vertical and indoor farming in recent years. According to Ellis, while lighting is crucial to photosynthesis, it's only part of the puzzle: "It's a combination of factors that makes a vertical farm successful or not - the sum of all elements should add up to more."
Ellis Janssen
Educating vertical farmers
Next up, Wythe Marschall introduced the FarmTech Society (FTS). As Education Committee Chair, he focuses on education and workforce development, pointing out that there are lots of opportunities there in the industry.
Wythe Marschall
"In the US, there are not that many places to go for training, unlike in Northern Europe or Japan for instance," Wythe noted. "We look to work with educational institutions and members, and based on what industry members want, we offer courses with industry credentials, skills that are vetted by the academic institutions and industry." To this end, a CEA training and education consortium has been formed by the FTS.
Vertical circularity
The mic was then passed to Stephan Wullschleger and John Macdonald of Porohita Projects, who tuned in from Switzerland and New Zealand respectively. As Stephan explains, 'Porohita' stands for 'circular' in the Maori language, so it's no surprise that the company is all about circularity in indoor agriculture.
John Macdonald
The duo met in the Middle East, where John was working on a bottled water project. Recently he also spent some time in the UAE and Saudi Arabia working on controlled-environment agriculture projects, before moving into vertical farming. "Most importantly, this project was water positive for most of the year, that made it really very exciting", he says about the latter project.
Saving energy
In the Q&A session, the discussion moved back to lighting. "It's very important that you look at the efficacy of the lighting module", Ellis explained. "In the end, some light is for free, so we need a proper business case for a vertical farm to make it economically feasible.
At Signify, they've been working on improving the efficiency of lighting modules, but as Ellis points out, the other part is also crucial: the yield of your farm. "That yield is influenced by the light spectrum. What you gain in kilograms in yield in your farm, has a direct impact on your price - not only the cost price but also the sales price.
"So it's a combination of having the right spectrum and the right module. Do not only look at capital expenditure but look at the total light plan."
John agrees that it's important to take into account energy as a critical factor and a really big cost. "Water positivity is interesting and emotionally nice to achieve, but it's not going to be your biggest cost, so energy is the one to work on."
The Vertical Farming World Congress continues until the 24th of September. HortiDaily will be posting summaries of several of the sessions in the near future, so keep an eye out for those updates!
Publication date: Wed 23 Sep 2020
Signify Expands Philips Horticulture Research Partner Network In China By Adding Yunnan AiBiDa Greenhouse Technology Co., Ltd. To Serve The Chinese Floriculture Business
The partnership will further promote the use of LED applications in floriculture production in greenhouses. "We need high quality products for our customers in China. Philips Horticulture LED lighting technology is what we need for our greenhouse crop production," said Li Qin, founder and CEO of Yunnan AiBiDa."
On Aug. 28, 2020, Signify signed a cooperation agreement with Yunnan AiBiDa Greenhouse Technology Co., LTD, to formally become a research partner using Philips GreenPower LED products as supplementary lighting for its greenhouse floriculture production improving crop growth efficiency and quality in western China.
"We are pleased to welcome AiBiDa to our horticultural network,” said Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Signify. "Yunnan AiBiDa is committed to integrating advanced European Horticulture technology and facilities to China’s developing floriculture market. AiBiDa’s flowers such as cut rose enjoy a high reputation in the Chinese market. Signify will provide AiBiDa with advanced horticulture LED lighting technology and services to improve the quality and yield of their greenhouse crops.”
The partnership will further promote the use of LED applications in floriculture production in greenhouses. "We need high-quality products for our customers in China. Philips Horticulture LED lighting technology is what we need for our greenhouse crop production," said Li Qin, founder and CEO of Yunnan AiBiDa."
Signify and Yunnan AiBiDa have already cooperated in the Linxia International (Sino-Dutch) Floriculture Port project located in Gansu province. In May this year, a three-party joint laboratory (Signify, Baiyi Group, and Yunnan AiBiDa) was officially set up at the project location. Meanwhile, Yunnan AiBiDa was awarded as ambassador of Philips Horticulture LED lighting solutions globally and locally in China’s Floriculture market. Signify will continue to expand its partner network in China to better serve the Chinese Horticulture market with innovative Philips grow lights and services.
Signify and RIAT Pioneer Growing Tomatoes and Cucumbers In A Vertical Farm Without Daylight
Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, and RIAT, an innovative farming enterprise located in Russia, have together pioneered the growing of tomatoes and cucumbers in a vertical farm without daylight.
April 30, 2020
Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, and RIAT, an innovative farming enterprise located in Russia, have together pioneered the growing of tomatoes and cucumbers in a vertical farm without daylight. During the research phase in 2019, RIAT achieved a yield comparable to advanced traditional greenhouses using Philips GreenPower LED grow lights.
We already had facilities of sufficient height at our disposal, therefore there was no need to invest in building a glass construction. But as the building had no windows, we needed a high-quality lighting system to fulfill the intensive lighting requirements of tomatoes and cucumbers. In 2019, Signify provided its Philips GreenPower LED grow lighting, helping us to achieve a yield performance comparable to traditional greenhouse operations."
Vladimir Bukharev
Director at RIAT
RIAT’s indoor farm is located in the center of the Ivanovo region, enabling the company to distribute its tomatoes, cucumbers and 19 types of green crops to its own RIAT stores within an hour after harvesting. RIAT has a special technique to fold the long stems, allowing it to grow the 3.5m high plants indoors.
“With a harvest of 2.7 to 3.2 kg of cucumbers per m2 every week, and 1.7 kg per m2 of tomatoes, we started making a profit as of the second year of operation,” Bukharev added. “In addition to that, the quality of the product is very high, there’s hardly any waste and we sell 99% of what is being grown.”
“To mimic nature as much as possible, RIAT has chosen a combination of different kinds of Philips GreenPower LED toplighting and interlighting, bringing light both from the top and right in the canopy where the light is needed the most for photosynthesis. While using different kinds of lights, the light recipe can be adjusted based on the crop that is grown,” said Sergey Khokhrin, business Development Manager CEE/Russia & CIS at Signify.
Signify, in collaboration with several research partners, discovered that the red spectrum in light stimulates growth of plant cells and tissues, while the blue spectrum influences the processes of cytodifferentiation (racemes initiation, bines and root formation, flowering). The combination of red and blue with the addition of white and other colors in Philips LED grow lights creates lighting conditions that are as close to natural daylight as possible. Additionally, RIAT is using bumblebees for pollination, as in traditional greenhouses. The bees don’t experience difficulties due to the absence of natural light.
When choosing a lighting supplier, RIAT tested LED modules from different manufacturers from around the globe. “By using Philips LED lighting modules, we managed to achieve maximum stability and a light output of 18 g/mol. This is why we chose Signify. The area equipped with LED lamps is currently 3,800 m2. Soon, we are going to launch a new area of 700 m2 to grow lettuce which will also be equipped with Philips LED lighting,” Bukharev added.
For further information, please contact:
Global Marcom Manager Horticulture at Signify
Daniela Damoiseaux
Tel: +31 6 31 65 29 69
E-mail: daniela.damoiseaux@signify.com
Signify Corporate Communications and Government Affairs in Russia
and CIS
Natalia Neverskaya
Tel.: +7 (495) 937-93-30; fax +7 (495) 937-93-59
E-mail: natalia.neverskaya@signify.com
About Signify
Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings and public spaces. With 2019 sales of EUR 6.2 billion, we have approximately 38,000 employees and are present in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We have been named Industry Leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for three years in a row. News from Signify is located at the Newsroom, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Information for investors can be found on the Investor Relations page.
A Whole Season of Hybrid Tomato Cultivation Den Berk Delice & Bryte Confirm: “LED Ensures Controllability”
A stronger plant, higher fruit weight, and more uniformity in growth; these are the results of a lit tomato crop when combining Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact and HPS lighting in a hybrid lighting solution
September 9, 2020
A stronger plant, higher fruit weight, and more uniformity in growth; these are the results of a lit tomato crop when combining Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact and HPS lighting in a hybrid lighting solution. The growers, the world-renowned tomato cultivators Bryte from the Netherlands and Den Berk Délice from Belgium share their experiences with hybrid lighting during the first cultivation season in this article. Both projects were installed at the end of 2019
Both entrepreneurs were very positive about their experiences after a year of tomato cultivation with hybrid grow light. The combination, which resulted in a more uniform fruit and crop growth and a more controllable greenhouse climate, asks for more. Cultivation with hybrid lighting, in which LED lighting is combined with HPS lighting, however, requires a different approach than cultivation with only HPS lighting. “The big advantage of LED lighting is that there is much less radiant heat from the light, which gives us more control over the climate in the greenhouse. Since light and temperature can be controlled more independently from each other with hybrid lighting, we have to change the way we approach the climate differently and that requires a new way of thinking, where the experience of the Signify plant specialists comes in handy, ”says Zwinkels.
Heat differences in the greenhouse
Where heat is mostly the deciding factor with traditional HPS illumination - but also plays a major role as an unavoidable by-product for cultivation control - this is no longer the case with hybrid illumination. LED leads to much less excess heat in the greenhouse, which makes it possible to control light and temperature separately. It is thus easier to control the growing conditions. For example, Den Berk Délice chooses to grow generatively up to 28° C in winter and from March more vegetatively to keep a strong crop. Lucas: "We noticed that we are much more in control with LED." The cultivation experts at both companies carefully thought about how they could anticipate on the changing temperature situation in the greenhouse. Erik: "With us, the position of the growth tube could be at the expense of the fruit weight. In our case, the best solution was to introduce extra heat from the bottom of the greenhouse. We also noticed that control errors were less likely to be made due to better control over the climate and that the climate became more constant. We saw positive crop development and were satisfied with the fruit weight and the crop growth."
Illuminate longer
“A big advantage of hybrid cultivation in comparison with HPS is the possibility to light the crop for a longer period of time", said Koen. “Especially in the winter months, a high crop yield is important to us; it is a period that we want to make the most of. We have seen that with hybrid cultivation you can illuminate earlier in the fall, but also until deeper in the spring, up to thirteen or fourteen hours a day. Of course, you have to keep looking at what extra lighting brings in terms of production and costs.”
Light advice
The plant experts of Signify are experts in using LED and know better than anyone else what LED lighting means for crop growing and climate. In the past growing season, they assisted the companies with light and climate advice. Both companies now have 180 µmol/s/m2 light, distributed across 90 µmol/s/m2 LED toplighting compact and 90 µmol/s/m2 HPS lighting. The Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact was introduced to the market during the last growing season. "Signify talks a clear language", said Erik. "They are the right discussion partner for me, who regularly visits and discusses what we encounter in practice." Koen adds: “The specialists also have a large network. Via them, I managed to get into contact with other growers who also use LED. I look forward to the annual Tomato Community Event organized by Signify, where cultivators from around the world get together. This not only gives me the opportunity to share experiences with LED lighting, but also to expand my network that I can take advantage of in the future. We always see talking to like-minded people as very valuable.”
Does LED toplighting have a future?
Firstly, LED saves up to 60% on energy costs, but there is more. Erik: "As cultivator, I would like to bring the winter to the summer. LED lighting makes it possible to go to higher light levels and is the right way to do that. I prefer a hybrid solution with HPS, and then look at how we can regulate the heat in the greenhouse.” For Koen, the ideal cleaning conditions, where the modules do not have to be shielded, and the simple scaling options are reasons to choose a combination of HPS with LED toplighting compact luminaires. He refers to the plug-and-play ease of installation of the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting. Both consider future investments in a larger portion of LED in their greenhouses. They look forward to the development of LED in combination with higher light levels.
Create the correct balance to control your crops
Erik wondered if he, at his company, as he said, maybe loved the plants too much. In passing, he refers to the learning curve that you as a grower with LED go through. "You control it differently with hybrid lighting and that requires experience that you will gain through the years. You become wiser. Light and heat become more tangible and you are better able to control the right balance in your crop. I see it as an added value in which we can develop ourselves year after year, with better end results. Let the summer come during the winter!"
Erik and Mark Zwinkels are co-owners of Bryte; with 40 hectare - of which 60% is lit - one of the biggest players in the Dutch tomato cultivation. Koen Lauwerysen is one of the four business managers at Den Berk Délice, where Lucas Aertsen is the cultivation manager. With 60 hectares tomatoes - of which half is lit - their company is also one of the bigger ones in Belgium. Both share their experiences during the past cultivation season where they used the combination LED and HPS for the first time. Bryte installed it on eight hectares, and Den Berk Délice on ten.
For further information, please contact:
Global Marcom Manager Horticulture at Signify
Daniela Damoiseaux
Tel: +31 6 31 65 29 69
E-mail: daniela.damoiseaux@signify.com
Signify Global Media relations - Professional Lighting
Wendy Schellens
Tel: +31 6 51 863 401
Email: wendy.schellens@signify.com
About Signify
Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value, and transform life in homes, buildings, and public spaces. With 2019 sales of EUR 6.2 billion, we have approximately 36,000 employees and are present in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We have been named Industry Leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for three years in a row. News from Signify is located at the Newsroom, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Information for investors can be found on the Investor Relations page.