Projects - prof.dr.ir. LFM (Leo) Marcelis

SKY HIGH: Vertical farming, a revolution in plant production

We need to provide a growing world population with food, even though more and more people live in towns and cities, there are often water shortages, and the nutritional value of fruit and vegetables has been falling for decades. By growing plants in layers above each other and illuminating them with special LED lamps, fresh vegetables can be produced throughout the world under all weather and climate conditions over the entire year.

Within the SKY HIGH programme, researchers, together with lighting specialists, breeding companies, growers, horticulture technology companies, architects and food suppliers, will make this type of vertical agriculture cheaper and more energy-efficient. In addition, the aim is to use this type of vertical farming to produce vegetables and herbs with a better taste, shelf life and nutritional value, while using extremely little water and nutrients, and no pesticides.

Leo Marcelis is leader of this NWO-Perspective programme,, which comprises 17 PhD students and postdocs.

Participants: Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS), Bayer, Bosman Van Zaal, Certhon, Fresh Forward, Grodan, GROWx, Own Greens, Priva, Signify (Philips Lighting), Solynta, Unilever, Van Bergen Kolpa Architects, FFAR, TU Delft, Eindhoven University of Technology, Leiden University, University of Amsterdam,  Wageningen University, FFAR

"LED it be 50%" Saving 50% energy use in greenhouse Horticulture by smart LED lighting

By the smart use of LED lighting in greenhouses, the energy consumption of tomato growers can be reduced by 50%. In the LED it be"  research programme eight PhD candidates and 3 postdocs will investigate the possibilities to enable this.

50% energy saving requires a system innovation. New lamps, different wavelengths, intensities, timing and positions of lamps are needed. This demands a coordinated change of growth conditions and crop management, but also adapted cultivars. Different types of plant responses at different time scales need to be optimized. This can only be realised by a coordinated effort of researchers from different disciplines together with different types of companies. In this program tomato is used as a model crop.

Objectives

• Comprehensive physiological and genetic understanding of signalling effects of light on plants, focusing on plant architecture, growth, disease resistance and plant-water relations as well as their interactions;
• Based on this understanding, develop novel 3D simulation techniques to simulate the spatial heterogeneity of multispectral light distribution, leaf temperature and photosynthesis of plant canopies;
• New concepts for integrating different plant sensors and crop models to phenotype (characterise) plants for energy efficiency;
• Optimized operational rules for light intensity and spectrum in space and time. Understand the principles behind the optimal results and translate to rules to be used in practice;
• Development of a management support system for energy efficient production.

Partners of  ‘LED it be 50%’ programme

In the programme entitled LED it be 50%, which is led by Leo Marcelis,  Wageningen University cooperates with the universities of Utrecht, Leiden, Delft and Eindhoven. Withing Wageningen University several groups are involved: the chair group horticulture & Product Physiology, Farm Technology and Wageningen UR Plant Breeding. The university groups cooperate with growers organisation LTO Glaskracht Nederland, LED-producer Philips, breeding companies RijkZwaan, Nunhems and Bejo, automation companies HortiMax and B-Mex, plant raising companies Van der Lugt Plantenkwekerij and Westlandse Plantenkwekerij and research organisation Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture.