The fourth meeting of the international seed event, Seed meets Technology, received a similar number of visitors as last year, although the percentage of foreign visitors rose strongly.
The first day covered the subject of phenotyping in the field. Drones deliver a lot of data, but what exactly can you do with it? This was covered in detail in the lectures.
The highlight of the event, the symposium, ‘Innovations, vertical farming and hydroponics all over the world’, was opened by alderman Harry Nederpelt. Both the Dutch and English lectures were fully attended, and afterwards there was the chance to vist the hydroponic trial fields where Botman Hydroponics, Enza Seeds and Industrial Product Solutions showed their systems for growing hydroponic lettuce.
A new theme this year was soil salination. Arjen de Vos, from the organisation Salt Farm Texel, in collaboration with Professor Pier Vellinga and Dr. Klaas Smits, spoke about the problems of soil salinization as well as possible solutions and salt tolerant crops.
Apart from the lectures, there was plenty to see on the exhibition floor, with everything from cleaning machines, disinfectant-units and moisture meters, to red Chinese cabbage and pink tomatoes. There were also outdoor field trials to see from Sakata and Takii.
Next year’s fifth Seed meets Technology conference will take place from the 25th to the 27th of September 2018.