Ag Tech News
Year Round Strawberry Production Using Controller Technology
At Featherbed Fruits in Oxfordshire, England, ambitions are high. To accommodate growing consumer demand of year-round access to strawberries Featherbed Fruits has invested in a brand-new climate-controlled plastic greenhouse. The greenhouse can hold up to 76,800 strawberry plants at any one time.
But is it possible to produce strawberries year-round in the UK? Even if you have never grown a strawberry before? Absolutely! Using a clever combination of twin polythene layers to attain heat and DGT by Senmatic technology, Featherbed Fruits is looking to grow early and late strawberries.
Controller technology makes it possible
With controller technology from DGT by Senmatic, including our LCC4 climate control and our AMI Penta Irrigation & Fertilizer Mixer with full SiiP control, the temperature and humidity of the greenhouse is cleverly monitored to ensure the optimum conditions for the strawberry plants all year round.
“The owners of Featherbed had never grown a strawberry before this year. In year one, they attained volumes of growth beyond even what the very best growers can with decades of experience. Key to this is the fly by wire SiiP system remotely controls all the requirements of the plant. Once the set points are created, this can be done with limited direct input of the grower,” says Stewart Penny from Penny UK Ltd, the DGT by Senmatic distributor in the UK.
“Featherbed are growing fantastic class one strawberries with zero heat and minimum labour. This is the strawberry farm of the future,” says Stewart Penny.
