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Dutch-German research team develops new integrated crop protection system

The Dutch-German ‘Healthy Greenhouse’ project offers a completely new 'total concept' for crop protection in modern greenhouse horticulture. This new ‘Healthy Greenhouse System’ enables growers to produce high-quality crops without pests and diseases. After four years of research the results of the Interreg project ‘Healthy Greenhouse’ will be presented on 1 and 2 October. A live demonstration of the Healthy Greenhouse System can be visited.

Production systems in modern greenhouse horticulture are getting ever larger and more technological. This results in many advantages but makes daily crop inspection more difficult at the same time. How can growers still succeed in producing high-quality plants without pests and diseases?

Within the Interreg project, Dutch and German experts worked hard for four years to find a solution for this problem. They took tomato (high crop) and cyclamen (low crop) as test crops for their research. The result of this research is an innovative crop protection system using the most modern techniques which informs the grower about the presence of pests and diseases before symptoms appear, and advises and facilitates the application of necessary measures. “The system ensures the best possible restriction of chemical crop protection products, which is of benefit to all”, explains project leader Carolien Zijlstra of Wageningen UR.