On the first day Ag-Press.eu team offered a number of training sessions on different aspects of the CAP and visits to the main EU institutions. On the second day the group left Brussels by bus and went on a field trip. They visited three farmers/producers in the northern part of Belgium. One was an innovative tomato producer, one was a precision farmer (potatoes) and the last stop was at a research centre for fruit growers.
The tomato producers Stoffels have been in business for twenty years now and have developed into one of Belgium's most modern and innovative tomato growers.
The company started with a cultivation area of 2,2 hectares. Answering to the market´s changing need, they started cultivating mini tomato (Sunstream), still the most popular small tomato in Belgium. In 2011, they expanded the total cultivation area to 10,5 hectares. Stoffels also invested in an air conditioned packing hall.
In the last two years they have launched new products, such as the luxurious TomaD´or, and the Gusto, a big tomato with a unique taste.
From January this year Stoffels is solely responsible for the sales and marketing of its products. Through contracted cultivation, the total production has expanded to 20 hectares; with approx. half of it under illumination. This way Stoffels can guarantee the continuity of the production also in wintertime.
In recent years the company has concentrated on sustainable and innovative cultivation of tomatoes. In fact, Stoffels is a pioneer when it comes to the deployment of sustainable energy sources and of innovative techniques designed to cut down on the use of water, plant protection products and fertilisers.
See website: www.stoffels-tomaten.be
Jacob van den Borne is a precision farmer from the Netherlands. All his decisions are made based on measurements – the soil, the weather, plant growth, everything is measured. Thanks to the precision faming he has improved the yield and the quality of the crops (potatoes, sugar beet, and maize).
Click here to read an interview with Jacob van den Borne.
See website: www.vandenborneaardappelen.com
Photos: www.vandenborneaardappelen.com
The Research Centre Pcfruit is an internationally recognised research centre; created in 1997 as a coordinating structure of three former research institutes and demonstration gardens, all specialised in fruit growing and located in the heart of the fruit growing area of Belgium. The oldest of these comprising institutes was founded in 1943.
Pcfruit has an experimental garden for strawberry (and other small fruits) aiming to demonstrate the results of the applied agricultural research on soft fruits into practice and to execute comparative research on demand of growers.
There is also the official Belgian experimental garden for pome and stonefruit (which is an off- site activity in the region ‘Hageland', in a private orchard) where demonstrative trials for professional fruit growers are carried out. Focus lies on planting and pruning systems, rootstocks, hail protection and fertilisation.
The garden dealing with cherries is on pruning and training systems, the avoidance of cracking and shelf life improvement by hydro cooling.
Other staff members at Pcfruit research in ecologically and economically beneficial spray application techniques for plant protection products, fungal diseases, chemical and biological control of various fruit pests and more.
In 2014 Pcfruit launched a project that will run until end 2019 called "Open Innovations" together with a list of other Belgian partner companies and organisations; Boerenbond, Vlaamse overheid, Het Innovatiecentrum, Innovatiesteunpunt, BFV, Veiling Haspengouw, BelOrta, Flanders Food. The project aims at improving the profitability of fruit companies through precision farming, to better support decisions for investments and to develop alternative uses of fruit or secondary flows, increasing the total value of the fruit.
Pcfruit offers other companies, on a fee for service basis, trials for SME's and multinationals at various stages of product development: the ideation phase, proof of concept, development, product positioning, validation and official trials…..the more innovative, the better!
See website: www.pcfruit.be
