Driven By Innovation
June 12, 2008 |
1. |
Plugs |
|
2. |
Seeders |
|
3t. |
Carts/Rolling Racks |
|
3t. |
Photoperiod (long days versus short days) |
|
5. |
Plant Growth Regulators |
|
6. |
Plastic Plug & Liner Trays |
|
7t. |
Barcoding |
|
7t. |
Internet |
|
9t. |
Plant Tags |
|
9t. |
Temperature Controlled Transport |
|
11. |
Computerized Systems |
|
12. |
Liners/Rooted Cuttings |
|
13. |
Transplanters |
|
14t. |
DIF (manipulating day and night temperature to influence plant growth) |
|
14t. |
Electronic Data Interchange |
|
16t. |
F¹ Hybrids |
|
16t. |
Plastic Flats |
|
18. |
Chemical Injectors |
|
19. |
Gutter-Connected Greenhouse Structures |
|
20t. |
Peat Moss |
|
20t. |
Polyethylene Greenhouse Film |
|
20t. |
Tissue Culture |
|
23t. |
Insecticides & Miticides |
|
23t. |
Water Soluble Fertilizer |
|
25t. |
Federal Express/UPS and Other Carriers |
|
25t. |
Programmable Booms |
|
25t. |
Web Sites |
We kick off our 25th anniversary celebration of Greenhouse Grower with fun features, including this Top 25 list, which ranks the most significant inventions and discoveries that have advanced greenhouse crop production.
Twenty leading growers and industry experts helped us rank more than 120 innovations in importance on a scale of 1 to 10. While a ranking of 1 was "not important or relevant," a ranking of 10 was "revolutionary, completely changed the industry." With the 20 evaluators, the most points an innovation could have received is 200. The innovations were sorted into 14 categories to group related products and concepts together.
Plugs came out on top with 171 points, followed by seeders with 170 points. Interestingly enough, the two are closely related. We had a three-way tie at No. 25 with Web sites, programmable booms and carriers like Federal Express and UPS garnering 145 points each. The highest-rated production concept was the understanding of photoperiod, which tied with carts/rolling racks with 167 points. We also learned growers love their plant growth regulators, which earned 166 points at No. 5.
Growers appreciated the opportunity to participate. "Thank you for inviting me to partake in this examination of what innovations have made the grand differences in our industry’s expansion," says Jose Costa of Costa Farms in Goulds, Fla. "I think it is a great thing to reflect on how we got where we are so we can be clear in what our focus as an industry should be going into the future."
Check out the list and tell us if you agree or disagree. Are these the 25 most significant innovations? We are going to open up this survey to our entire readership and post comparison results as a feature in Benchrunner, our weekly e-newsletter. Stay tuned!
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