The new cultivation: beyond the gut feeling

Cucumbers, tomatoes, blueberries, mushrooms and ornamental horticulture: where innovation is grown, data is collected. There are now sensors from Yookr at some 45 locations, recording all kinds of data, such as humidity, temperature and plant growth, 24 hours a day.

Just as he preaches to his customers, Van Helden works himself: keep responding to new insights. "We have just developed a voice app, with which growers can very easily voice their actions. So much water, so many nutrients and so many crop protection agents I have deployed. Those actions are digitized through the app and translated into data needed for certification. That saves the grower a lot of time and fits in perfectly with working in a greenhouse or in a field." It is a nice addition to the different types of sensors Yookr uses to give growers insight into how a crop behaves under what conditions.

Checking assumptions

For Van Helden, nothing is taken for granted. "Often we make all kinds of assumptions, based on what we already know and our gut feeling. With the sensors you can check whether that feeling is correct. Take the growth curve of a plant. You expect a plant to grow only during the day, because that is when it is light. By using a weight sensor that measures the weight every 5 minutes you can make a graph with the growth factor per hour. If you then notice that a plant continues to grow surprisingly fast even at night, you have to adjust that image." When I immediately want to draw all kinds of conclusions from this, Van Helden slams on the brakes. "Thanks to such a growth factor graph we will eventually be able to say more about the harvest development of a crop. But it is still too early to think about interventions. Next year we are going to take measurements with about 20 plants and check the output. Then the figures will already be harder."

"Horticulture is going to go through major changes in the next 10 years"

Long process

It underlines that for growers data collection is not something you just start. Pathways take at least 3 years to get from data to insights and interventions. "People are not used to looking at it that way. But when you see your first data, it always raises new questions. As a result, you start to digitize more and more, and you get more and more insights about what factors play a role. In outdoor crops, for example, the soil is very important. Every cultivation process is different and therefore there is still a lot of work to be done." It may be a lengthy process, but it is one that the market is ready for. "Governments are making increasingly strict demands on growers: you have to be able to measure what you are doing and you are allowed to use less and less crop protection. I therefore predict that horticulture will undergo major changes in the next 10 years."

Working with nature

Van Helden refers to Greenhouse of the Future, a greenhouse design by WUR as an example for the horticultural sector. The Full Electric greenhouse with full LED lighting for the lighting, a heat pump to dehumidify the greenhouse and an installation for purification and reuse of drain and condensation water, should show that climate-neutral production is possible in the future. Van Helden: "I am convinced that it is possible to work without crop protection agents, if only we learn better how nature works. We still have insufficient knowledge of water and soil. That is because in the fifties and sixties we used the easy and cheap chemical agents and therefore forgot what nature is telling us. Fortunately, more and more growers are taking a new direction and we can return to working with nature instead of against it. Crop advisors are also contributing to more awareness and helping to make the change."

"In every crop, there is profit to be made by knowing better what is happening."

Creating success stories together

Now some 90 percent of Yookr's customers are in North Limburg. But that's about to change. "For next year, we are also targeting companies outside the immediate area, including Belgium and Germany. It's the combination of our tools with our personal commitment that makes growers like working with us. I want to do something together, so that something actually happens. A mountain of data without practical solutions and improvements is of no use to the customer. Only then can you create a success story. That means I take the time to ask the right questions. Together we look at where and how we can best digitize. For example, we were able to provide just in time irrigation without unnecessary water loss for a customer in the ornamental plant sector. Via the sensors, the grower receives a push message just before frost arrives. We have also recently started using cameras in mushroom cultivation to map out the various growth stages. This is providing all kinds of new insights to further optimize the cultivation. There are questions and uncertainties in every crop that can be improved if you have a better idea of what is happening."

Relying on data

Boy Jacobs of cucumber grower SiTesta's in Venlo has been using the Yookr sensors for years, to collect reliable data with which he can offer demonstrably higher quality crops that are produced sustainably. "In the Netherlands, growers mainly focus on reducing costs with the aim of being the cheapest. But we want to focus more on adding value to our high quality crop." To be able to demonstrate that you are working sustainably and with high quality, reliable data collection is of course essential. "We collect quite a lot of information, but it is still difficult to be able to manage this properly. By continuing to cross-check data and by continuing to work with Yookr on the development of the software, we are getting a step further."

Boy Jacobs of SiTesta's in Venlo

Also Bart Verheijen, soft fruit product manager at Kekkilä-BVB, is using Yookr's sensors to collect more data. "We use Life Cycle Analyses a lot within Kekkilä-BVB. The sustainability effects of a certain type of substrate are made clear in these LCAs. Developments are moving very quickly, allowing us to use more and more renewable raw materials, such as sphagnum moss. Thanks to sensor technology, we have been able to acquire a great deal of knowledge about new raw materials and can now advise customers optimally about the right choice of substrate. And this knowledge development will continue, also because we will make connections with our own lab."

Big data, big business

SiTestas and BVB Substrates are examples of frontrunners and more and more will follow in the coming years. For growers it's serious business, because saving energy and water and having predictable sales is worth its weight in gold. And you'll also see that in acquisitions, predicts Van Helden. "If you want to sell your company well in five or ten years' time, you have to digitize now. Then you're not only selling a plot or a greenhouse, but also enormously valuable knowledge."