WATER
John Hermans (l) and Jan Arts in front of the workshop at Vullings.
For instance, we always install our systems using our own team, as the way a system is installed greatly determines how successfully it works.” Vullings constructs the entire system from stainless steel and has a patented system with flat spray nozzles. Hermans: “These flat spray nozzles give a good horizontal water distribution pattern, with a uniform overlap. You can achieve a good spraying pattern in beds and in trays, even with little distance between the beds.”
Test room
One of the projects for the coming period that will be occupying Hermans, and managing director Jan Arts, is setting up a test room for the watering systems. This room, that will also be used as a demo facility in the future, can be realised through the purchase of the premises adjacent to the Vullings offices and production areas on Handelstraat in Horst. The funds needed to equip this space were partly provided by the prize money the company was awarded when it won the Innova Award in 2013. Jan Arts: “What we intend to do in our test and demo facility is optimise our WSS to such an extent that the harvest can be maximised using a minimum of water. Our concept helped us win the Agro Food and Technology Award last year, when our idea was judged to be the best. We are cooperating on this with Wageningen University and BVB Substrates. We are creating a databank that will optimise the processes of mushroom growing,
with, of course, an emphasis on watering. We have developed a digital water profile meter, a bit like plastic beakers in the beds but in a different form, that works well. It’s a mobile system we can take along to growers to demonstrate how well or badly water is being distributed over the beds. But in the test room we are also going to work with moisture measurement in the beds, for both compost and casing soil, to see just how much water really is optimal at each moment. These moisture sensors are now under develop- ment, as it’s still difficult to find a reliable sensor at the moment. An American manufacture is working on the development, and once the product is ready we can think about establishing a databank to register data from commercial growers so that we can create a watering system that is better tailored to suit the needs of the crop. Of course, the grower’s input will remain the major influence, but the tools at his disposal can be improved. Developments in other sectors are already way ahead in this respect.” John Hermans adds: “We have specifically chosen not to use static spraying systems above the beds, as they can never achieve such even water distribu- tion. Our system sprays a good, largish droplet that quickly runs off the mushrooms and doesn’t block the system easily. The complete WSS can be delivered with our control system or a system of a supplier of your choice.”
The test room should be up and running at the end of 2015.
10 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
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