Vertical farming is expanding internationally and is rapidly professionalizing. This creates a growing demand for cultivation knowledge in these very specific cultivation conditions. Delphy has therefore decided to set up a specialized team for Vertical Farming. The Delphy Team Vertical Farming responds to the great knowledge demand that arises with fully indoor crop production. Due to the absence of natural factors that determine production in conventional cultivation situations, cultivation knowledge must be adapted and partly redeveloped for vertical farms.
With the Team Vertical Farming, Delphy wants to form a bridge between fundamental research and practical application in commercial vertical farms. The Team Vertical Farming focuses on developing and implementing cultivation knowledge, aiming to optimize crop production in commercial vertical farms. There is a growing demand for this knowledge, given that on the one hand vertical farming is a new way of growing and on the other hand, when scaling up from R&D size to commercial size scale effects occur that make it difficult to translate results 1-1 from fundamental research into a commercial application.
To develop this cultivation knowledge, Delphy invests in the purchase of new high-tech research modules in the Delphy Improvement Center in Bleiswijk, The Netherlands. A large research unit is being built for the fully indoor cultivation of high-wire crops such as tomatoes and a multi-layer cell with four layers for the cultivation of lower crops such as leafy greens or young planting material.
An important criterion for the purchase of the research modules was the type of technology in the modules themselves and the effect of this technique on the quality and scalability of the results. The emphasis lay on-air treatment and homogeneity of the airflow. After a careful consideration, Delphy opted for the technology of Infinite Acres, because the design and technology of their climate modules met the set requirements the best.
The agreement signing
Infinite Acres specializes in setting up and running large-scale indoor farms where food is grown under fully controlled conditions. It is a technically driven concept and the Dutch company has invested heavily in recent years in innovations in the field of climate, water and energy, specifically for indoor farms. The goal is maximum yield and quality, locally grown and in the supermarket in no time. Infinite Acres sees the collaboration with Delphy as an important opportunity to contribute to the development of this fast-growing sector, which plays a crucial role in making the global food supply more sustainable. There is a great need for knowledge, for example for training growers, and scientific insights that can be applied in practice.
To reinforce this, Infinite Acres, together with partners Priva and Signify, has ensured competitive pricing for the turn-key indoor farm. Tisha Livingston (CEO Infinite Acres) and Aad vd Berg (Manager Delphy Improvement Center) recently signed the agreement for the purchase of the climate cells. In addition to supplying these cells, Infinite Acres and Delphy Team Vertical Farming will also work together in the field of research and application of specific cultivation knowledge.
Lisanne Meulendijks will lead the knowledge development from the Delphy Team Vertical Farming in these new high-tech research modules. The focus of the research will initially be on monitoring and optimizing the microclimate of the corp and gaining insight into the transpiration process.
For more information:
Delphy
Lisanne Meulendijks
[email protected]
www.delphy.nl
