The Fieldlab Vertical Farming consortium has received a €740,000 grant from Kansen voor West for the next four years. With this financial contribution, Fieldlab will grow into a knowledge and innovation center of vertical farming for the international market, according to Greenport West-Holland.
Fieldlab Vertical Farming must become the place where all the previously fragmented knowledge and innovations in this field in the Netherlands are brought together and turned into concepts that the business community can put on the (international) market.
Fieldlab grew out of the 2018 Greenport West-Holland Innovation Pact and is working closely with the Indoor Farming Netherlands community developed by InnovationQuarter and Greenport West-Holland. The Innovation Pact's ambition is to turn Greenport into the world's leading international horticultural cluster, an international hub for technological and business innovation.
Vertical farming is playing a key role in turning this ambitious goal into a reality. It is giving a boost to new technology, insights into plant physiology and nutrients, and new market opportunities. It is also providing a new platform for cooperation in knowledge and innovation.
Deputy Meindert Stolk of South Holland hands over the check to Woody Maijers (Greenport West Holland Innovation Pact)
Strengthening competitive position
Fieldlab Vertical Farming is thus contributing to sustainably strengthening the competitive position of the Dutch horticultural sector and maintaining its leading position in the world. Several companies and knowledge institutes are working together within Fieldlab.
The subsidy from Kansen voor West is allowing Fieldlab Vertical Farming to focus on three areas: International Marketing (with the goal of connecting international investors), Education, Innovation, and Demonstration of New Crops (with the goal of reaching a wide range of entrepreneurs) and Strengthening Governance (with the goal of ensuring that Fieldlab provides significant added value).
Source: Greenport West-Holland