Today the winners of the innovation awards have been announced during the opening of GreenTech. Of the 50 entries 18 were selected as nominees by an expert jury and three winners were chosen in the categories namely ‘Innovation award’: Koppert Biological Systems with the product Natutec Scout, ‘Sustainability award’: Ridder Group with the product Ridder NoNa+ and ‘Concept award’: Grodan (part of ROCKWOOL Group) with the product e-Gro.
Category Innovation: Winner Koppert Biological Systems with the product Natutec Scout.
Jury comments:
- ‘Globally applicable’
- ‘It’s simple and easy to use’
- ‘Global impact on indoor and outdoor farming’
- ‘A great innovation, low cost, high impact’
Product details:
Manual scouting is important in the horticulture industry, but also time-consuming and error-sensitive activity. Therefore, Koppert designed the scout-app. An intuitive mobile application and dashboard that gives instant insight into the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) situation of greenhouse growers. This enables growers to respond rapidly in the on-going battle against potentially harmful pests and diseases.
Category Sustainability: Winner Ridder Group with the product Ridder NoNa+.
Jury comments:
- ‘Maximizes the greenhouse water cycle. More sustainability is essential for the sector’s future’
- ‘Less investment, high input and zero sodium creates an affordable product for growers everywhere’
- ‘In line with the sustainable water transition in the Netherlands and the rest of the world’
- ‘New innovation: the combination of membrane technology and electrolysis treatment’
Product details:
Ridder NoNa+ is the industry’s first cost-efficient sodium-removal solution that removes harmful sodium levels from drain water and enables emission free cultivation thanks to an unique combination of selective membrane and electrodialysis technology. This innovative system minimizes the loss of expensive fertilizers and makes it possible to remove sodium without adding other minerals.
Category Concept: Winner Grodan (part of ROCKWOOL Group) with the product e-Gro.
Jury comments:
- ‘It helps integrate lots of data’
- ‘An accessible concept for growers and an easy user interface’
- ‘An important step towards autonomous growing’
- ‘Excellent combination of artificial intelligence and green roots’
Product details:
e-Gro is an open platform that provides comprehensive visibility and intelligent recommendations to help growers make data driven decisions and optimize their total operation. The platform gives a clear picture of the root zone, the crop, the climate conditions, the irrigation and harvest results. As a result, a grower has more control and he can make better informed decisions.
All the entries for the awards will be part of the GreenTech Innovation Route. The nominees including the winners will be showcased at the InnovationLAB
Jury
The jury of the GreenTech Innovation Awards 2019 consisted of:
- Chairman: Harm Maters, AVAG (the Netherlands)
- Silke Hemming, Wageningen University & Research (Germany)
- Peter Zwinkels, Technokas (the Netherlands)
- Mark Durno, Rockstart (the United Kingdom)
- Perry van Adrichem, Horti-Tech B.V. (the Netherlands)
- Wolfgang Steiner, Gemüsebau Steiner GmbH & Co KG (Germany)
The jury’s advisory committee consisted of:
- Enrico Verhoef, United Farms (Mexico)
- Roger Abbenhuis, Onder Glas/In Greenhouses (the Netherlands)
- Heinrich Dressler, Gärtnerbörse (Germany)
- Brian Sparks, Greenhouse Grower (USA)
- Leonardo Capitano, Vivai Capitanio (Italy)
