Which Products Were the 2021 GreenTech Innovation Award Winners?
The winners of the GreenTech Innovation Awards were announced at the opening of this week’s GreenTech Live & Online event. From a group of 20 entries, the winners are: Corvus Drones BV with its Corvus Drones in the Concept category, and Van Iperen International, GreenSwitch Original in the Innovation category.
“The winners teamed up with other expert partners and have a system approach, which is key for future circularity and upcycling solutions to hold commercially and to drive meaningful impact,” says Chairwoman Liselotte de Vries of the TU Delft AgTech Institute. “It’s a strength that they do not look at the greenhouse industry in isolation.”
Concept Winner: Corvus Drones BV’s Corvus Drones
The drone is a fully automatic flying drone in horticulture greenhouses for crop monitoring purposes. What makes it unique is the automatic navigation based on visual odometry software (GPS signals are too weak to use in a greenhouse). Seed germination, usable plants, and leaf area measurement are the first applications.
Comments and feedback from the jury of the GreenTech Innovation Awards include:
- “Corvus has chosen to team up with strategic partners in a platform concept. Each partner being strong in something else, the combination is very strong and promising.”
- “The business model, a subscription model, is inspiring and can be an example for other businesses.”
- “More dynamic assessments tools for greenhouses are welcome in the scope of digitalizing crop production and precision farming.”
Innovation Winner: Van Iperen International’s GreenSwitch Original
GreenSwitch Original is the first nitrate fertilizer from an organic source. It is a pure, crystal clear liquid formulation suitable for high-tech greenhouses and any open field fertigation or foliar application in fruit, vegetables and ornamentals.
Jury comments included:
- “Fertilization made easy with big contributions to a circular economy.”
- “We appreciated the systems approach that GreenSwitch takes by tying together different actors in the food and energy supply.”
- “Potential for worldwide application”
- “Interesting principle for extraction of other nutrients (from other sources) in the future.”
Check out the long list of all the entries of the Innovation Awards here.
The jury of the GreenTech Innovation Awards 2021 includes:
- Chairman: Liselotte de Vries, TU Delft AgTech Institute (Netherlands)
- Silke Hemming, Wageningen University & Research (Germany)
- Peter Zwinkels, Tecknokas (Netherlands)
- Mark Durno, Rockstart (United Kingdom)
- Perry van Adrichem, Horti-Tech B.V. (Netherlands)
- Wolfgang Steiner, Gemüsebau Steiner GmbH & Co KG (Germany)
The jury’s advisory committee consists of:
- Brian Sparks, Greenhouse Grower
- Leonardo Capitano, Vivai Capitanio (Italy)
- Enrico Verhoef, Total Greenhouse Service (Mexico)
- Heinrich Dressler, Haymarket (Germany)
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