Dutch research project HiPerGreen developing drones for horticulture is finished with a symposium, but there’s more to that. A startup company continues drone practices in nurseries.
HiPerGreen (High Precision Greenhouse Farming) started with students aeronautical engineering from Inholland Delft, Dutch university for applied sciences. The project began more than two years ago with a €600.000 budget and participation from Dutch research institutes, government and ornamental industry. Meanwhile the graduated students set up their own company, Applied Drone Innovations (ADI).
Now the ADI team continues with the results from the project, as the project management said at the final symposium on Friday 27 September in the World Horti Center in Naaldwijk, one of the Dutch greenhouse areas.
Monitoring, pest and disease detection
ADI is already developing drone practices for a number of nurseries. Mainly for monitoring ornamental crops, pest and disease detection in pot plants and cut flowers. And also for phenotyping in breeding, in other words selecting new varieties on different aspects.
The aim is flying drones autonomously in greenhouses. During the symposium, ADI demonstrated this shortly in a greenhouse of the World Horti Center. The drone detected the surface with the help of laser and moves within beacons set up in the greenhouse.
Read all about the project, the results and practical cases in Floribusiness digital magazine.
Video by Arno Engels
