From a Dutch perspective, Growtech is not exactly the fair to go to for innovations. Nevertheless, last week, during the four-day fair, the necessary innovation awards were presented. Turkish horticulture is developing despite the challenge of the lira's low value.
Tansel Bükülen of Royal Brinkman, Alireza Rezaei of Privapartner Gen Group and Paulina Komorowska and Hans Peters of Priva. View the entire photo report here.
Turkish horticulture compares well with that of southern Spain. Many crops are under plastic sheeting, apart from a few glass or very high-tech sheeting greenhouses. The comparison with Westland can also be made because along the edges of Antalya, the city in which the fair takes place, the greenhouses stand between the houses.
Ambassador Nathalie Lintvelt and Agricultural Council member Maarten Wegen, pictured with Marco Zwinkels of Prins Group and Danny van den Bosch of Stolze. View the entire photo report here.
Two differences with southern Spain are the presence of geothermal energy in Turkey and the lira. Geothermal energy is an advantage for Turkish growers. The lira is an advantage and a disadvantage. An advantage is that the current exchange rate makes it cheap to export, for example, Turkish tomatoes to northwestern Europe. A disadvantage is that importing modern greenhouse technologies is difficult because of that same exchange rate.
Marcel de Jong (Soil & Green) and Nico de Groot (Advanced Berry Breeding) at the Holland House of Fruit stand where a cluster of Dutch companies had gathered with a focus on turnkey fruit growing projects. View the entire photo report here.
At the fair, a lot of attention was paid to water technology, which became clear during a tour of the fair. This photo report gives a good picture of that tour. You can read the exhibition updates from Thursday and Friday here and here.
Asel Taurbayeva is vice president of the Union of Greenhouses of Kazakhstan. Also from left to right: Lawrence Kemerink and Olga Danilova of Hortilux, Pavel Kornilov of BASF, and Vera Bouklakova and Paul van der Valk of Hortilux. View the entire photo reportage here.
Innovation awards
The ATSO Growtech Agriculture Innovation Awards went to:
- Seracell Bilişim ve Tarım Teknolojileri A.ş (in the greenhouse and technologies category).
- Verta Tekno Ltd. Sti (irrigation and technologies category).
- Topraq Tarım Teknolojileri San. ve Tic. A.ş (crop protection))
- Casada Tarım Anonim Şirketi (plant nutrition).
- Topraq Tarım Teknolojileri San. ve Tic. A.ş (smart agricultural applications and technologies).
- Petektar Tohum San. Tic. Ltd. Şti. (breeding);
- and a special public award for a research institute focused on the Western Mediterranean (Batı Akdeniz Tarımsal Araştırma Enstitüsü (BATEM)).