Saint-Gobain Cultilene is proud implementation partner of the Plant Empowerment foundation. Together with the other partners we strive for sustainable and profitable horticulture worldwide. We help growers to get a higher yield per square meter using less resources, by optimizing the plant’s natural growing power and resilience.
Holistic approach
Saint-Gobain Cultilene is a proud implementation partner of the Plant Empowerment Foundation. Together with the other partners we strive for sustainable and profitable horticulture worldwide. We help growers to get a higher yield per square metere using fewer resources, by optimising the plant's natural growing power and resilience.
By working with the other horticultural companies in the Foundation (Hoogendoorn Growth Management, LetsGrow, Koppert, Ludvig Svensson, Hortilux), we can share our combined knowledge with growers.
At Cultilene we not only focus on stonewool substrate but also on external influences affecting the root zone. By identifying connections between grower actions and factors that impact the substrate, we enhance our expertise in water and smart root zone management. This holistic approach empowers growers to better understand and control their plants, providing valuable new insights.
User stories
Throughout 2023, the Plant Empowerment consultants provided tailored advice to tomato and cucumber production company Lapietra, based in Monopoli (Bari) in the Puglia region of Italy. “Keeping the crops better in balance is good for plant health, and healthy plants mean better flavour, more uniform quality and higher yields,” says Head Grower and Technical Manager Paolo Paciello, who manages the company’s eight greenhouses.
At BASF Vegetable Seeds, the aim is to obtain more production, and better quality and also look for resistance in varieties to support farmers around the world. The company conducted a cucumber trial in the data-driven greenhouse at its test facility in the Netherlands to explore whether the Plant Empowerment principles could help to achieve these ambitions. “Our goal was already quite high, but in the end, we produced 50 pieces per square meter more than we expected,” says Marcel Huibers from BASF Vegetable Seeds.
Much of tomato producer Vereijken Kwekerijen’s success has been built on the growers’ know-how and intuition, rather than data. “But if we want to survive, we can’t keep doing what we’ve done in the past,” says Ted Claessen, Internal Advisor at Vereijken. To help the company change for the better, the entire growing team signed up for a Plant Empowerment course. The transition from the ‘old-school’ way of growing to the Plant Empowerment philosophy has resulted in happier plants, happier growers, and more profit.
Robert van der Geest, Chief Operating Officer of the Mexican vegetable produce company United Farms (65 hectare), is one of the initiators to increase focus on data management within the company. United Farm has chosen the Plant Empowerment concept combined with MyLetsGrow for the analysis and monitoring of their data.
Questions and advice about your crop
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