Towards a resilient, future-proof horticultural sector

Did you know that for 99,7% of the high-tech growers in greenhouses, biological control methods are the standard? To protect their plants against harmful insects, per hectare 511.000 natural enemies of these insects are used per year. The use of these biological control methods ensure a sustainable production method in the greenhouse, and avoid the use of chemical crop protection products. At the same time, there is an increased focus within the sector on the health and resilience of the plants themselves. Today, on Biodiversity Day, we highlight the horticulture sector’s ambition to make the process of vegetable cultivation as natural and sustainable as possible, now and in the future.

Sustainability pioneers

“Currently, supermarkets only make a distinction between organic products (cultivated on the land, without chemical crop protection products) and non-organic products. Fruits and vegetables not cultivated on the land are therefore automatically classified as non-organic. Which is strange, because a tomato from a high-tech greenhouse in the Netherlands is cultivated in a very natural, sustainable way, without the use of chemical crop protection products. The high-tech greenhouses are the pioneers in the field of sustainability, in my opinion,” said Sander van Golberdinge, Public Affairs Manager at Grodan in an earlier interview.

Food Forward, High-tech biology, greenhouse, whitepaper, illustration, EN

Food Forward: High-tech biology and physics lessons from the greenhouse

Did you know that as early as 1988 it was discovered that bumblebees are the best pollinators of tomatoes? Thanks to their ‘buzz-pollination’ technique, where the bees shake the flowers, bumblebees are now used for more than a hundred different crops.

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^{Sander van Golberinge, Public Affairs Manager at Grodan}

In that same interview, Peter Maes, Director Corporate Marketing at Koppert Biological Systems, reflected on the developments he sees in the high-tech greenhouse: “Growers are now increasingly concerned with the question how to grow delicious food as efficiently, sustainably and effectively as possible, with minimal use of chemicals and maximum use of biological processes. We’re also seeing an increasing focus on the health and resilience of the plant itself.”

A future-proof agro-economy

One of the reasons for this development is that people are not able to control and influence everything within our food system. Therefore, a resilient and safe food system is needed. Maes: “It’s important we join forces to develop safe, resilient cultivation methods, so that we achieve an agro-economy that is future-proof. Because a resilient agro-economy allows us to take a step towards a resilient, sustainable society.” According to van Golberdinge, it is important to minimize the cultivation risks as well. “In high-tech greenhouses, it’s easier to isolate and eliminate soil-based diseases, in particular. That ensures higher levels of food safety and certainty.”

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Long-term resilience and safety

Moving forwards to an even more sustainable and effective horticulture sector, it is important that there is more recognition of and interest in the long-term resilience of the crops. Because, as Sander says: “The more naturally we grow fruit and vegetables in greenhouses, the cleaner the soil, groundwater and surface water around the greenhouses will be, and the safer our own food will be!”