Growers that use Plant Empowerment (GPE) in their growing strategy are achieving very good results. This sustainable concept deserves therefore to be promoted worldwide. Hoogendoorn Growth Management, Svensson, Hortilux, Koppert Biological Systems, Saint-Gobain Cultilene, and founder LetsGrow.com started cooperation to let growers, crop advisors, and investors around the world know about this concept. The board of Plant Empowerment Sustainable Growing Foundation officially set up the foundation at Greentech in 2019.
The board of the foundation consists of Arne van Aalst (Koppert), Bonny Heeren (Cultilene), Marcel Nouel (Svensson), Martin Helmich (Hoogendoorn), Michel de Wit (Hortilux), and Peter Hendriks. The companies fully support the conclusion by the writers Peter Geelen, Peter van Weel and Jan Voorgt that GPE works! For this reason, they will promote, distribute and implement this philosophy worldwide. By applying the data-driven concept it becomes possible for growers to improve production in a sustainable manner with higher quality. As well as minimizing diseases and pests.
“By starting this foundation, we are making the next step within Plant Empowerment: we want to help growers and crop advisors worldwide improve their cultivation process according to this data driven concept. In this way we are helping them to reach better result in a more sustainable way"
Peter Hendriks, chairman of the Plant Empowerment: Sustainable Growing Foundation
Amongst others, in Canada, America, Mexico, Russia, France, and Poland growers and crop advisors are active in applying the GPE concept. More countries are following. The companies behind the foundation are developing software and hardware tools for the growers and crop advisors making implementation of the concept as easy as possible. Together the companies are organizing webinars and seminars (nationally and internationally) with the single purpose of distributing knowledge and demonstrating how GPE is implemented in the field and allowing growers to get maximal results from their crops. The concept offers tools to achieve better results and to lead and control larger production areas.
What is GPE?
GPE is a new approach to growing greenhouse crops. The GPE concept is based on a combination of physical and physiological processes instead of experience or “green fingers”. GPE has as a goal to optimize growth and support the plant by balancing energy, water, and assimilates.
