Data. It’s perhaps second only to water in importance to the high-tech growers and other attendees at this year’s HortiContact exhibition, the Netherlands’ largest annual horticultural event.
The more than 15,000 attendees are part of a growing horticulture sector with an increasing interest in the ways technology can improve their products and their business.
Boost yields while conserving resources
It’s the reason Grodan, a part of ROCKWOOL Group, is here to announce the launch of “e-Gro”, an open software platform developed in close cooperation with growers.
The e-Gro platform incorporates data from the root zone, the crop, the climate conditions, the irrigation and harvest—and in the future, from other data sources—giving the grower more control over the growing process, the information needed to optimize the cultivation strategy and a much clearer picture of the business.
“The smart use of data is currently indispensable in business operations and will in time become a must for growers to operate both sustainably and profitably," says Hub Janssen, Managing Director of Grodan. “With e-Gro, we want to help growers to make more informed decisions to further optimise their business.”
A digital transformation
It’s the latest innovation from Grodan, the leading supplier of sustainable stone wool growing media solutions to the professional horticultural sector based on the principles of Precision Growing—giving the plant, fruit, vegetable or other crop the exact amount of water and nutrients it needs.
After the earlier development and successful introduction of other data- driven technologies in the greenhouse such as the Grodan Water Content Meter (WCM), the Grodan 6-Phase advice model, GroSens MultiSensor and the e-Gro app in 2017, the e-Gro platform is the next logical step data-driven Precision Growing.
Customer-driven design
Initially, the e-Gro platform will be commercially available in the Benelux countries, with more markets to be added in the future.
How it develops with new features and adjustments will be driven by ongoing feedback from customers.
The e-Gro platform can be linked to the most common climate computer systems and is available for both smartphone, tablet and desktop.
