“In vertical farming, a controlled, climate-controlled envi­ron­ment provides ideal growing condi­tions,” explains Rudy van den Berg, respon­sible for marketing and commu­ni­ca­tion at Artechno Growsys­tems in Maas­dijk. “We are focusing on the devel­op­ment of inno­v­a­tive cells.” These are closed cham­bers of different sizes in which plants grow all year round. Instead of sunlight, these plants thrive in the light of LED lamps – at the perfect temper­a­ture and with a balanced humidity and water supply. “Every little plant gets exactly the same atten­tion, can grow perfectly and produce reli­able yields.” Artechno mainly wants to reach inno­v­a­tive farmers who are open to this new type of culti­va­tion.

Every little plant gets exactly the same atten­tion, can grow perfectly and produce reli­able yields.

Rudy van den Berg, Artechno Growsys­tems

Not only is the suste­nance of the plants almost completely auto­mated, but also the culti­va­tion process. For farmers, the advan­tage of this is that they save on labor costs. It also ensures that the plants grow undis­turbed, as there is no need for humans to get involved at all and no cont­a­m­i­na­tion is intro­duced into the sensi­tive system. The cells invented by Artechno have a modular design, which offers customers many advan­tages.

“They can adapt our cells to the needs of the partic­ular crop, the avail­able space and the desired produc­tion volume. They start with a few key compo­nents, for example, and can expand the vertical farm as required,” explains Rudy van den Berg.

From small cell to factory

The smallest cell that Artechno offers is only 15 square meters in size, meaning that it fits into virtu­ally any barn. If farmers want to grow more plants and increase their yields, they can line up several cells. If they add conveyor belts, washing stations and pack­aging lines, they have a “plant factory”.

From seedling to delivery, all the processes are auto­mated. This makes a culti­va­tion area of 9,600 square meters or more possible. The cells have auto­mated climate control systems for temper­a­ture, CO2, humidity and air flow. In addi­tion, they provide irri­ga­tion and supply the plants with nutri­ents. The light can also be controlled, depending on the desired spec­trum and inten­sity. As an option, the growth of the greenery can also be moni­tored using cameras as optical sensors.

Vertical agri­cul­ture as an industry

Aiming high in vertical farming

Effi­cient venti­lation, air condi­tioning and automa­tion with fans, blowers, drives and AGVs from ebm-papst.

The right product for every appli­ca­tion.

Rudy van den Berg also refers to Artechno’s cells as plant facto­ries: “It sounds very indus­trial, but more impor­tantly it makes it clear that the entire process happens in one place,” he says.

“Prefer­ably at a loca­tion close to distri­b­u­tion centers, from where the harvested plants can then be brought directly to the super­mar­kets. In terms of logis­tics, you save a lot of time and mileage compared to a field harvest.” According to Artechno, almost all crops are suit­able for vertical culti­va­tion, espe­cially lettuce, herbs, seedlings and berries.

“The land or region where the cells will be located often deter­mines what is prof­itable for the farmer. You can often achieve a better and more consis­tent price in places where tradi­tional culti­va­tion of the crop is diffi­cult, for example.”

Optimum growing climate with the RadiPac

The growing climate natu­rally plays a crucial role in the cells devel­oped by Artechno. Perfect venti­lation is crucial for growth – and it was moving air that brought the company into contact with ebm-papst. Rick van Oost­erom, sales repre­sen­ta­tive at ebm-papst Benelux, explains: “In October 2020, we made contact – we presented our range of motors and fans to Artechno.

It turned out that they were buying a ready-made venti­lation unit and installing it in the cells. But they wanted to change that, so we worked together as part­ners and experts in our respec­tive fields to find a new solu­tion.” ebm-papst Benelux offered an alter­na­tive fan that performed signif­i­cantly better than the previous solu­tion, both in economic and ecolog­ical terms. But Artechno was not yet fully convinced.

Instead of three different fan types with different oper­ating points, they wanted to use just one model in the cells that would effi­ciently cover all three oper­ating points. “That was quite a chal­lenge. Our first choice would have been the AxiEco, but as Artechno controls the air volume via a differ­en­tial pres­sure measure­ment, the only option was a centrifugal fan.” They opted for the new RadiPac C. “It was the perfect solu­tion, both econom­i­cally and with regard to effi­ciency. It can keep the air quality in the green­house at an optimum level,” explains Rick van Oost­erom. Thanks to its EC motor, the fan can contin­u­ously adopt different oper­ating points and always works at an effi­cient optimum.

The Radipac C was the perfect solu­tion, both econom­i­cally and with regard to effi­ciency.

Rick van Oost­erom, sales repre­sen­ta­tive at ebm-papst Benelux

Now the fans ensure a perfect air flow that allows the plants to grow opti­mally. Depending on the design, between 12 and 24 fans are installed in the Artechno cell. “Every crop needs a specific micro­cli­mate,” explains Rudy van den Berg. “We have to monitor this closely. Mold is always a risk of culti­va­tion, but with a controlled and flex­ible air flow, we can completely rule it out.”