Strawberry Greenhouse Wins Sustainability Award

Being able to retract both the roof and walls quickly reduces high humidity - and disease pressure.

Being able to retract both the roof and walls quickly reduces high humidity – and disease pressure.

In recognition of a British company called Total Berry and its leadership in the field of innovation, Marks and Spencer (M&S), one of the premier retailers in the United Kingdom, has honored them with an award for their sustainable strawberry project.

Total Berry is a part of Total Produce, a $3.4 billion company that embraces every stage in the product life cycle, from plant breeding to production, from global importation to sourcing and supply. The project was initially featured in a story one year ago in the March 2015 issue of American Fruit Grower® and Western Fruit Grower® magazines.

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During the first year of the trial, yield per plant increased by a healthy 22%.

During the first year of the trial, yield per plant increased by a healthy 22%.

The Total Berry project team purchased and built a Cravo Retractable Rafterhouse, which has the technology to control the internal environment and provide optimum growing conditions for the fruit. The internal structure was designed and built, and fitted with fixed and movable double tier table tops to make the best use of the space inside the house.

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Initial planting took place in 2014 and inputs together with yield and quality data have been measured and captured regularly. Data analysis for Year 1 was completed at the end of 2014 and a report covering the key take-aways was made available to M&S and their UK growers.

“With the support of M&S and Cravo we have shown that a paradigm shift is possible that can lead to increased yields, healthier plants and cost savings in comparison to current practices,” said Dr. Drew Reynolds, Total Berry Technical & Business Development Director. “The project has shown that a retractable production system may look expensive on first viewing but the results provide a vision of a truly sustainable future.”

The project was launched after Richard Vollebregt, chief executive officer of Cravo Equipment Ltd., a Canadian greenhouse manufacturer headquartered in Brantford, Ontario, initially met representatives of Total Berry at Fruit Logistica, a huge trade show held each winter in Berlin. ●

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