Greenhouses
Chinese greenhouse promotes healthy food
With the increasing demand for healthy and safe food in China, the emphasis is on the production of leafy vegetables of good quality and with fewer resources, which requires efficiency and technologies such as intelligent systems and automation.
The aim of the owner of the Lüwochuan farm Ben Zhu is to ensure that all Chinese citizens have access to healthy fresh food. To produce more and the best quality, the company uses technology by partners Codema Systems Group, Hoogendoorn Growth Management and Industrial Product Solutions.
Feeding China, one of the worlds’ largest countries is a challenge, but securing its safety is an even bigger challenge, says the partnership.
Promoting healthy food in China and boosting consumer confidence is thus essential, particularly in local produced food. According to Zhu, owner of Lüwochuan farm, it is especially important as local green vegetables could not always be trusted to guarantee consumer health.
Automated greenhouse
Zhu ran his own plastic factory for about 28 years. But, in 2010 he started his own greenhouse project called Lüwochuan farm. This is a 2 hectare automated high-tech plastic greenhouse. Zhu partnered with André van der Stoel, owner of Industrial Product Solutions, who is a co-creator of this project and designer of the greenhouse. To bring healthy organic food to the Chinese consumer, Lüwochuan recently opened its own exclusive store.
Besides delivering to supermarkets, where Chinese consumers can taste and buy their products. On top of that, Lüwochuan organizes educational tours for e. g. schools, other growers and consumers.
By monitoring and controlling factors such as greenhouse climate and water, which have an impact on crop growth, quality and production, Lüwochuan farm contributes to food safety and enlarges trust in locally produced food in China.
The Codema irrigation system contributes to the good quality of water and filters the water and conducts nutrient detection tests every day. The advanced and flexible Hoogendoorn iSii process computer enables to control all processes in the greenhouse, from irrigation to climate and energy. On top of that, the system is available in the Chinese language and is controllable from an iPad or Smart Phone, making it a userfriendly system.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the following persons for their assistance with this article- Prof. Martin Steyn, Department of Plant and Soil sciences, University of Pretoria Randy Kumasamba, Department of Plant and Soil sciences, University of Pretoria Tielman Roos, Limpopo Department of Agriculture
SABI | AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2016 27