Micothon develops mega vacuum cleaner to get rid of flying insects

Two years ago, during a networking event, there was an accidental meeting between Koppert Cress B.V. and Theo Straathof, the owner of Micothon B.V. They brainstormed about how to develop the most sustainable to get rid of the flying insects in crops without using chemicals.

Theo Straathof shared his experience with a successful vacuum cleaner for a Helleborus grower with insect problems. This was an idea the cress grower had always kept in the back of his mind.

In the summer of 2021, Theo received a phone call from Koppert Cress about his mega vacuum cleaner machine. The company was looking for a safe, professional, and sustainable machine to help them get rid of the flying insects. Micothon was immediately willing to continue and adjust their original Helleborus vacuum cleaner.

The most important thing they kept in mind during the development is that the machine should be effective and easy to use and that it should work autonomously. 

"We are happy to share that the mega vacuum cleaner has now been operational for a few weeks. It works easily and effectively. All you need is a De Vette monorail system so the machine can be hung up to it. You can set up the machine in accordance with your crop needs, like the suction power, the speed, and the number of treatments," Theo says.

Even before the worldwide launch of this way of crop protection, several lettuce and strawberry growers have shown their interest and asked for advice and solutions for their crops with this new technique. Therefore, Micothon will continue to further finetune the installation and make sure that this machine will be 'The sustainable solution' for many crops.

Micothon started in 2003 with fully automatic spraying robots for many kinds of greenhouses and crops. The spraying robot uses air support to make sure that the plant protection product covers almost 97% of the leaves, which makes the machine very effective in fighting crop diseases.

After implementing the spraying robots worldwide at greenhouses with vegetables, flowers, and plants, Micothon notices that crop protection products are short-term solutions but will not be sufficient for future-focused companies. For this reason, Micothon continues to develop machines that will make sure that crops stay healthy without any chemical solutions.

Besides the cvacuum clean technology recently developed, Micothon also offers UVC solutions for all different kinds of greenhouses and cultures.