What is the industries willingness to share information?
Who is willing to collaborate to bring new technology to the commercial horticulture industry?
Will Dutch Growers continue to lead the way in innovation as it regards to the Horticulture Industry?
Peter Klapwijk, founder and co-shareholder of the consulting company GreenQ (http://greenq.nl) in Bleiswijk, the Netherlands, is a strong proponent of sharing production information. Klapwijk, who is a former greenhouse tomato grower, knows the importance of cultivation expertise. Peter started as a tomato grower.
Working with a lighting supplier 10-15 years ago, Klapwijk identified production techniques for using artificial light to increase the yield and quality of greenhouse tomatoes. Klapwijk shared what he learned with other growers leading to further advancements in the application of artificial light in the horticulture industry worldwide.
Speaking with Fresh Plaza (http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=101877#SlideFrame_1), Klapwijk said there is great demand for Dutch agricultural knowledge worldwide. He said unfortunately, this knowledge is often undervalued. Although growers may sometimes feel threatened by competitors who seek this knowledge, Klapwijk said it is this same knowledge that keeps growers working to improve their own operations. Growers can also use their knowledge to make advancements in new markets, particularly foreign ones.
Klapwijk calls for global cooperation in which the sharing of information will benefit both the provider and recipient.
(Hort Americas also found this article from Fresh Plaza very interesting as it implies that the Dutch Fresh Produce Industry (and maybe the fresh produce industry as a whole) “hate the massive amount of high-tech gadgets…” coming to the market. And Hort Americas would love to hear from you. Who has an opinion about this article? Dutch Greenhouse Growers, any opinions? Dutch horticultural technology suppliers, any opinions? We cannot wait to hear from you. infohortamericas@gmail.com
Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com
