Optimal Growing Conditions

Investing in greenhouses is a smart idea if you want to grow vegetables in an efficient and sustainable way. Growing vegetables in greenhouses make it possible to target the top of production to the months when prices in the market are highest. Production can be year round satisfying the needs of your retail clients. Money is saved as less water and fertilisers are needed to produce 1 Kg of vegetables while pest and diseases can be controlled easier preferably using biological methods.

Green Farming has designed three levels of greenhouse technology suiting local production conditions: the BASIC module, the PLUS module and the ADVANCED module. The modular set-up will allow growers or investors to choose the most suitable module suiting their own conditions and in time “grow” to a higher level of production technology.

A. The BASIC module:

• Production in soil
• Strong greenhouse structure with 4 m gutter height
• Fixed ventilation windows at top and sides
• Ventilation windows covered with insect netting
• Manual application of water and fertiliser

B. The PLUS module:

• Production in soil
• Strong greenhouse structure with 4 m gutter height
• Manual adjustable ventilation at top and side vents
• Ventilation windows covered with insect netting
• Automated water and fertiliser application

C. The ADVANCED module:

• Production on substrate (coco peat/pumice)
• Strong greenhouse structure with 4 m gutter height
• Ventilation windows covered with insect netting
• Automated climate control
• Automated water and fertiliser application
• Movable screen

The automated water and fertiliser application with the FertiMIX-Go! will allow for the timely application of fertilisers and water in accordance with the needs of the plants. The automated climate control through the iSii-compact processor will create the optimal growing conditions for the vegetable crop. The movable screen will reduce sun intensity and temperature during day-time and keep up the night temperature closer to the optimal condition to grow vegetables.

Efficient Water Management

Hydroponic systems are not common in East African horticulture and water management can often be greatly optimised. Therefore there is much to gain. The differences between growing in soil and in a controlled hydroponic system are huge.

Farms can become more productive at lower running costs and more sustainable so that less water and fertilisers are wasted in the production process and spilt into the environment by the efficient management of water. The set up of good water management requires more investments in the farm. It is possible with our equipment to pin down the financial demands during production and to realise sustainable production at a higher level of quantity and quality.

Huge amounts of water is necessary for a hydroponic system, which we find in boreholes, rain, sea, dam and drain. But water savings are present. Large volumes of drain water are being reused in the soil, so water use in general is low. By optimising fertigation management drain levels are lowered without risking accumulation of salts and less water is supplied to the hydroponic system. Water reuse in the hydroponic system is also an option.

We find water, desalinate it by reverse osmosis, mix it with fertiliser after which it is transported to the substrate. The drain water is collected and reused in the greenhouse.

By implementing the hydroponic system the output to the environment is significantly lowered and becomes close to zero when drainage water is being reused in the hydroponic system. Because of the savings on fertiliser application in the soil-based cultivation, the running costs are strongly reduced. Production amount and quality increases in terms of increased volumes in stem lengths, resulting in increasing revenues.

Post-harvest quality

The major part of the East African flower export is shipped to long-distance destinations, like Northern Europe and Russia. For long-distance shipments the initial quality of the flower and the quality of the post-harvest chain are tremendously important. The ultimate flower quality can be defined as the product of those two aspects. For many flower producers in East Africa the post-harvest phase is an area where great gains can be made.

That is why our members and partners have developed the Post-harvest Protocol. The main objective of the protocol is to improve the vase life of roses by optimising all components of the post-harvest phase. In order to achieve higher profits and deliver a high-quality product to consumers, it is important that all aspects of the post-harvest handling phase are optimised. By following a post-harvest protocol, the farm should be able to implement best practices more easily.

The protocol includes several important aspects for flower growers. Such as:

• Starting quality, based on soil and water parameters in the growing medium.
• Crop protection management, focussing on prevention of botrytis development and taking residue levels into account.
• Flower care and handling during harvesting, storage, grading and bunching.
• Use of packaging and bunching materials, including rubber bands, plastic sheets and carton boxes.
• The importance of the on-farm cold chain during harvesting, storage, processing, packing, as well as the transport cold chain up to arrival at the handling agent.
• How to use services such as soil and water sample analyses, quality feedback from receivers at the Dutch auctions, farm audits, vase life testing and cold chain monitoring to imrpove the product quality.

The protocol takes into account the three major components that determine the vase life at the consumers:

• Initial flower quality; the initial conditions of the flowers at the moment they are harvested.
• Water quality, hygiene standards and post-harvest treatment.
• Post-harvest quality management, including post-harvest handling and cold chain management.

The Post-harvest Protocol shows how farms can implement best practices in post-harvest management. By optimising the important aspects in the post-harvest phase at the farm, flowers can be shipped with the expectation of good quality and sufficient vase life upon arrival. We offer integrated solutions by combinbing the expertise of our members and partners.

Knowledge exchange

Green Farming sets up various demonstration projects together with local businesses and knowledge institutions to show which technologies, products, knowledge and services are available and how these can be applied to the local situation. The results in terms of production levels, efficiency of input use, production costs and revenues are shared with the sector via open days, professional journals and reports.