Multinational Syngenta specializes in crop technology and created a sensor application with 30MHz that measures light, humidity and ethylene concentrations. This keeps the company in control of the most important factors during the production of orchids. The sensors indirectly reduce the damage caused during the growth of the orchids by too high concentrations of ethylene. This not only increases the production capacity, but also improves the quality of the flowers themselves.

A global leader in biotechnology, Syngenta is the world’s largest crop chemical producer and an industry pioneer in crop production and seed development.

Challenge

Industrial flower production is a precise science. Few flowers demand as accurate control of environmental conditions as orchids. Even slight anomalies can cause damage to the product: overwatering and underwatering can be destructive, water salt levels must be perfectly balanced, while optimum temperature and light exposure varies. Orchids are particularly sensitive to ethylene levels in the ambient air, so proper ventilation is crucial for quality crops.

Using sensor data to create a yield enhancing product

Crop science multinational Syngenta worked with 30MHz on an an industry-grade agricultural IoT solution resulting in a system integrating ethylene sensors, light sensors, and humidity sensors to help farmers control key variables driving orchid production. Real-time data from this combination of sensors has helped prevent and mitigate the damage to orchids caused by environmental changes– including high ethylene levels– during growth, leading to higher volume and better quality product.

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Netherlands-based Pop Vriend Seeds is one of the leading breeders of spinach, bean and sweet corn varieties for the global fresh food market and processed food industry. Seeds from Pop Vriend find their way to buyers in over 120 countries. Pop Vriend Seeds use a conveyor belt counting sensor and the 30MHz analytics platform to optimize production lines. The sensor counts every passing bag, while the ZENSIE dashboard displays data for various dates and times.

Founded in the Netherlands, Iribov is an independent service laboratory focused on tissue culture services and analysis of plants with flow cytometry and molecular techniques. The laboratory uses tissue culture to produce half material for breeders, develops protocols for multiplication and produces certified starting material for large-scale production. With locations in the Netherlands, Ghana and Macedonia, the lab employs a team of more than 350. The company uses sensory data from temperature and humidity sensors to maintain controlled laboratory conditions, providing the best quality services for customers.

Uprooted farms is a London based vertical farm, growing high-quality lettuces and salad leaves for local restaurants and shops. Growing lettuce in different conditions can alter the taste significantly. Using sensory data on temperature, humidity, and air-flow, Uprooted Farms can now optimize production yields as well as taste. Remote wireless sensing improves the team’s daily productivity significantly, eliminating the need for manual data readings. This time is now allocated to product enhancement, sales, and improved customer satisfaction.

For 15 years, Magic Season Organics has been growing seasonal and 100% organic vegetables for families all across Hong Kong.  A certified organic farm born out of a partnership with professors at the City University of Hong Kong, Magic Season was originally based in the New Territories, and now operates in Qingyuan. Magic Season aims to set an example by growing the vegetables most central to Chinese heritage and nostalgia as they’re meant to taste, in full balance with nature, with only natural fertilizer. The result is an environmentally sustainable process of recycling and reusing organic matter and minimizing waste in the landfills and of course, delicious produce.

Transparently maintaining the rigorous standards of organic cultivation and optimising traditional growing methods require monitoring and accurate, shareable data. That’s where 30MHz smart sensing technology comes in. The principles underlying 30MHz technology— accessible data, precision and keen awareness of environmental impact— resonated with Magic Season Organics. Magic Season Organics is utilizing the 30MHz solution to more precisely understand when it should provide water and fertilizer to its vegetables.  As Alvin Kwong, CEO, puts it “It was important for us to start generating data so that we can continue to optimize our growing process. 30MHz provides an easy-to-use platform for our employees and stores all the relevant information on the cloud platform so that I can easily access it from Hong Kong when I’m not at the farm.”

Madestein UK is specialised in glasshouse-grown lettuce and fresh basil for the United Kingdom’s major food retailers, food service companies and wholesale markets. With over 40 years of growing experience, Madestein grows the freshest and tastiest leaves for customers all year round.

Monitoring crops with the Pointed Microclimate Sensor, Madestein found that driving VPD higher improved the harvest quality and consistency, leading to a reduction in wastage and better shelf life.

Jonathan Zwinkels, Director: “Having greater insight into what the plant is doing with 30MHz smart sensing tech is really useful, and helps us focus on improving quality and reducing disease risk. We see the impact of capturing metrics that we previously didn’t have. We’ve just started with our climate computer integration as well, so we can now pull data from external sources into one central place, and see the interactions. It’s very interesting insight and has had an impact on our crop management team, helping them focus on optimising output and growth while minimising input.”

Van Lipzig Tuinderijen is a Dutch commercial cucumber grower, operating on 8.5 hectares. Growing cucumbers on an area that spans about 17 soccer fields, the company grows 240 cucumbers per square meter, and is active between January and November of every year.

The company was established in January 2008 in California, a development facility which rents greenhouse space to agricultural entrepreneurs on a private basis. Van Lipzig chose to grow in California because of the large space it offered, as well as the facility’s high sustainability standards. Cultivation manager Peter van Ninhuys checks the crop-level dew point of cucumbers by monitoring temperature and humidity in combination with object temperature. To capture real-time dew point, a pointed temperature sensor hangs centimeters away from a pointed temperature sensor. Insights from 30MHz sensors, delivered to the 30MHz platform, help van Ninhuys to optimize conditions in the greenhouses and reduce crop loss from mold and rot.

Saving energy

“With 30MHz technology, we’ve started monitoring the temperature of cucumbers— observing how quickly they warm up, and whether temperature falls below dew point. We track these metrics to prevent sunscald and mycosphaerella. In fact, after the first week of sensing, we realized that our tube settings were quite good, and our cucumbers did not have excessive moisture. We also saw an opportunity to lower temperatures and save energy” explains Van Ninhuys.

Temperature loss and root pressure

After monitoring the dewpoint of the cucumber fruit, Van Lipzig monitored the tops of cucumber plants to observe correlations with temperature loss and rain. Just two days into measuring, the company had gathered actionable insights. “We found out that the head temperature cooled very quickly after an unexpected rain shower. As a result, we adapted the screening strategy, so that the head temperature rose quickly to room temperature again. Now we are screening almost every night, preventing cold head problems. We think that this measurement makes it easier to monitor the root pressure. If the head does not cool too quickly relative to the root temperature, this causes less problems in cultivation.”

Affordable and reliable sensors

“Why did we choose to work with 30MHz? In horticulture we are very busy with making our cultivation methods as precise and sustainable as possible. Monitoring and gathering data is crucial here— and we think that’s a good thing. We’ve been on the lookout for affordable, reliable sensors, and 30MHz was a great fit.”

Firma CP Zoontjes is part of CoasTulip, a partnership between five companies dedicated to top quality tulips cultivated with passion using traditional methods. Using strategically placed temperature and humidity sensors and the ZENSIE dashboard, Firma CP Zoontjes gathers the insights needed to optimise tunnel conditions for cultivation. Wireless sensor technology provides the flexibility needed to continuously monitor and analyze climate parameters, and has enabled CP Zoontjes to capture data from existing stand-alone ethylene sensors into ZENSIE using a 30MHz Connect.

Svensson is the pioneer and world leader in climate control and energy efficiency through textile-based solutions. With the help of wireless sensors in even the most remote locations, Ludvig Svensson is able to collect real-time and historical data on greenhouse conditions. These data insights help the company improve their products on a continuous basis, facilitating optimal conditions to improve production in greenhouses all over the world.

Bejo Zaden is one of the leading global specialists in vegetable seeds, with locations in more than 30 countries all over the world. The company uses real-time alerts on truck and beehive conditions during transportation of bees from Northern France to Bejo’s headquarter in Warmenhuizen, the Netherlands. A mobile 30MHz Gateway enables continuous monitoring of temperature and humidity within trucks, ensuring that the bees are transported in optimal conditions. Truck drivers and Bejo Zaden Warmenhuizen employees follow real-time changes in the conditions through the ZENSIE dashboard and are alerted when intervention is needed.