100% GREEN; innovation for an ecofriendly greenhouse
Making cultivation more sustainable while ensuring food security are among the greatest challenges of our time. The greenhouse horticulture sector demonstrates that these goals can go hand in hand. One of the most promising approaches is Integrated Crop Management (ICM): an integrated strategy in which biological control agents, green crop protection products, and smart technologies together create a new eco-friendly ecosystem in the greenhouse.
Speakers
Johanna Bac-Molenaar became biologist, because she is fascinated by the living world around here in which each creature has its own role and place due to adaptations and interactions. During her studies in biology and in her PhD research, she specialized in the study of plants and their interaction with the environment. She currently works as a 'Plant Health' researcher at the Greenhouse Horticulture business unit of Wageningen University and Research, on the design and testing of resilient and sustainable cultivation systems. Her research aims to minimize pesticide use and to work more and more circular. As a specialist in strawberry cultivation, she likes to see the cultivation cycle (propagation, nursery and production) as one interconnected system for which integral solution work best.
Sjoerd van der Ent is Director of Innovation at Koppert, where he leads the development and execution of strategies to advance sustainable, biology-driven solutions in agriculture. In this role, he oversees a broad innovation portfolio, focusing on translating scientific breakthroughs into scalable products that support resilient food systems.
Sjoerd trained at Utrecht University, where he specialized in plant–microbe interactions. He also completed his PhD in this field, developing a solid scientific foundation in the mechanisms underlying plant health and microbial interactions. He began his professional career at De Ruiter Seeds / Monsanto Vegetable Seeds, where he worked for approximately five years and gained experience in applied research and the commercial seed sector.
He joined Koppert over a decade ago, initially leading R&D Microbiology. He later took responsibility for the Business Unit Microbiology, combining scientific leadership with operational oversight. Since early 2025, he serves as Director Innovation, driving the company’s broader innovation agenda and fostering collaborations with academia and industry.
Director Sustainability & Partnerships, Oxin Growers, The Netherlands
Ton van Dalen graduated in 1987 at the Wageningen University & Research. He worked for different companies in the Horticulture. In 2012 he was appointed as CEO of Best of Four, a producer organization of fruits and vegetables in Barendrecht. In 2020 Best of Four merged with Van Nature, another producer organization, to Oxin Growers. Oxin Growers is one of the largest cooperatives of the Netherlands with 230 active growers of fruit and vegetables and a turnover of 1 billion euro’s.
In addition to the work for Oxin Growers Ton is also boardmember at FVO( Federation of Fruit Vegetable Organisations). FVO is a collaboration of five producer organisations Harvest House, Growers United, ZON, the Greenery and Oxin Growers on a non-competitive basis. Within the FVO Ton is responsible for the project ‘100% Green Growing’, the Green Growing Expert Centre and the implementation of the Fresh Produce PEFCR. The purpose of this is to grow vegetables without synthetic pesticides in a profitable way with the lowest possible impact on the environment in collaboration with all partners in the high tech ecosystem.