Growing more with less

Growing food sustainably and efficiently

The global food production system is under pressure. We need to find more sustainable ways of feeding a growing, more urbanised population. ROCKWOOL products enable modern horticulture to increase production while using fewer natural resources.

In places where agricultural land is scarce, new and innovative forms of food production hold the key to feeding city dwelling populations. Grodan hydroponics can be sited anywhere, including in urban areas that would otherwise be completely unsuitable for traditional soil-based production.

Savings of water land use, fertilizer and yield gain of products sold

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Relative to growing in soil-based systems, Grodan products sold in 2021 resulted in an estimated 111 million litres less water used. Grodan products also saved more than 32,000 hectares of land, an area more than three times the size of Paris.

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Dutch greenhouse with tomatoes grown in GRODAN

ROCKWOOL collaborates with Wageningen University

Wageningen University & Research developed an estimation model comparing soil based and mineral wool based cultivations systems in three distinct climate zones for crops like tomato and cucumber

Sustainable food production

Researchers at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands estimate that by 2050, the world will have to produce twice the amount of food using half the resources compared to today1^[1] - all while dealing with climate change-related threats to food security^[2].

Growing systems using Grodan play an important role in overcoming these challenges. Research carried out by Wageningen University shows that high-tech greenhouses have the biggest positive impact on the UN Sustainable Development Goals compared with all other growing systems and score highest within water and nutrient efficiency^[3].

Professional growers use Grodan to produce fresh vegetables in a highly efficient way, using less water, fertiliser, and pesticides than soil-based solutions. Food produced on Grodan growing media uses 53 percent less water, while achieving 76 percent more yield – and it requires far less land, meaning it can be produced locally, reducing transportation.

Wageningen University & Research methodology

Quantitative comparison between soil based cultivation systems and stone wool systems

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^{[1] Passion for better future, Grodan, 2016. The facts presented in this booklet are a summary of a scientific review of dr. ir. Ep Heuveling and prof. dr. Leo Marcelis from Wageningen University & Research and based on UN https://www.grodan.com/our-thinking/our-thinking-storys/sustainable/}

^{[2] Special report on climate change and land: Food Security, IPCC, 2019, https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/}

^{[3] Evaluating Greenhouse Production Systems based on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Dianfan Zhou, Ep Heuvelink, Leo F.M. Marcelis, Wageningen, 2020. Nutrient efficiency is the reuse of the nutrient solution (recirculation) and herewith minimising its loss. It is made possible in high-tech soilless cultivation systems with stone wool.}