Sustainable and gas-free

The new Testing and Innovation Center has naturally been built as sustainably as possible and is heated entirely without natural gas. Heating is provided by heat pumps powered by the solar panels that the company extensively installed last year. In addition, the section of the Testing and Innovation Center located behind the greenhouses will also be fitted with solar panels on the roof.

Future-proof crop nutrition

Soiltech develops professional foliar nutrition products, known under the name Optima. These products are not only highly efficient, but also highly compatible with other products and formulated using raw materials that are future-proof from an environmental perspective. Achieving this requires extensive testing capacity.

Since 2016, Soiltech has conducted year-round crop trials in a rented research greenhouse in Limburg. To perform even more advanced testing, this new in-house greenhouse will be equipped with several high-tech installations. For example, screen systems and a specialized climate control system make it possible to fully simulate the conditions that occur — or may occur — in practical field situations. This enables Soiltech to accurately predict how products will perform in practice.

The extreme weather conditions increasingly affecting arable and horticultural farming as a result of climate change can also be replicated. Soiltech develops products that help crops withstand such extreme periods. In essence, these are solutions designed to make food-producing businesses more climate-adaptive. The plant-based agriculture sector is actively seeking these kinds of solutions, both nationally and internationally. Soiltech’s ambitions are therefore European and international in scope.

Renewable raw materials for potting soil

Sister company Van Iersel produces various types of compost and related products at the same location in Biezenmortel and at its three other production sites. In recent years, there has been growing interest from the potting soil industry, driven by increasing demand in horticulture for organic growing substrates and broader sustainability ambitions.

The potting soil industry aims to replace an increasing share of peat in potting soil mixes with renewable raw materials. Peat is a fossil raw material, and its extraction releases large amounts of additional CO₂ into the atmosphere, which is undesirable in light of global warming. Moreover, this raw material often needs to be transported over long distances.

As a result, the industry is searching for locally produced and more sustainable alternatives. This creates new opportunities for Van Iersel to develop innovative products, which can also be effectively tested in this new research facility.

Timelapse

Below you will find a video showing the construction of the greenhouse and an inside view of the facility.