NL2031694B1

NL2031694B1 - Floating growing system

Info

Publication number: NL2031694B1
Application number: NL2031694A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Vermeulen Dirk; Andreas Weerheim Jacobus; Adrianus Hendricus Maria Van Der Sande Johannes
Original assignee: Belua Beheer B V
Priority date: 2022-04-25
Filing date: 2022-04-25
Publication date: 2023-11-07

Abstract

A growing system (2) for a fruit-bearing crop, comprising: - a pond (2) adapted for containing a fluid, the pond having longitudinal sides (4,5) that extend in a length direction (L) and transverse sides (7,8) that extend in a width direction (W), - A number of rows (10,1 1 ,12) of floating crop carriers (14,15,16), the rows extending in the width direction (W) ofthe pond (2), the carriers in a row being mutually adjacent and oriented with a length direction parallel to the longitudinal sides (4,5), - a transport channel (22,23) containing the ﬂuid, extending along at least one longitudinal side (4,5) ofthe pond (2), from a start position (26) to a handling station (30), - a loading push member (46) positioned near at least one row or group of rows, the loading push member being movable in the width direction (W) from a remote side ofthe transport channel, that is situated at a distance from the pond (2) to a pond side ofthe transport channel, that extends along the pond, for pushing a crop carrier from the channel into a respective row in the pond, - an unloading push member (50) positioned near at least one row or group of rows, movable in the width direction towards the channel, for pushing a crop carrier from a respective row in the pond into the transport channel, and - transport means for moving the carriers (14,15,16) along the transport channel (22,23), from a transport entry position to the handling station (30).

Description

Floating growing system

Technical Field

The invention relates to growing system for a fruit-bearing crop, to a carrier for growing such a fruit- bearing crop and to a method of growing.

Background Art

Fruit-bearing crop, such as strawberries, are grown in greenhouses or can be grown in a controlled environment in which water and nutrients are supplied to the strawberries, that are grown on a substrate placed in trays or in gutters, by drip irrigation. Such systems have as a drawback that harvesting of the fruit from the crop growing in the trays or gutters, is labour intensive. Since the area of the growing space that is situated next to the crop needs to be accessible for personnel during growing and harvesting, the density of the crop in the greenhouse is relatively low. The access of personnel to the crop in the greenhouse may lead to contamination or infections of the crop by viruses.

It is an object of the invention to provide an efficient growing system and a growing method for fruit- bearing crop, in which the growing process can be accurately controlled and effectively be automated, providing easy access for manual and for automatic harvesting devices, avoiding damage to the crop and reducing the amount of human intervention. It is another object of the invention to provide a growing system in which a large number of crop per square meter can be grown. It is again an object to provide a growing system providing improved hygienic conditions.

Summary of the invention

A growing system according to the invention comprises: - pond adapted for containing a fluid, the pond having longitudinal sides that extend in a length direction and transverse sides that extend in a width direction, - A number of rows of floating crop carriers, the rows extending in the width direction of the pond, the carriers in a row being mutually adjacent and oriented with a length direction parallel to the longitudinal sides, - atransport channel containing the fluid, extending along at least one longitudinal side of the pond, from a start position to a handling station, - a loading push member positioned near at least one row or group of rows, the loading push member being movable in the width direction from a remote side of the transport channel, that is situated at a distance from the pond to a pond side of the transport channel, that extends along the pond, for pushing a crop carrier from the channel into a respective row in the pond, - an unloading push member positioned near at least one row or group of rows, movable in the width direction towards the channel, for pushing a crop carrier from a respective row in the pond into the transport channel, and

- transport means for moving the carriers along the transport channel, from a transport entry position to the handling station.

The crops that are fed with water and nutrients from the ponds, can be moved through the pond on the carriers, and are transported on these floating carriers to a growing position in the pond, via one or more transport channels that extend alongside the pond. When a carrier arrives at the position of a specific row across the pond, it is ejected from the transport channel into the row by the sideways movement of the loading push member. When the fruit of the crop in a row is full-grown, the floating carriers are pushed sideways by the unloading push member that is movable across the pond in the width direction, into the channel to be transported to the harvesting station. After harvesting, the carriers are again transported to a row in the pond for growing of a second harvest of fruits, and this process is repeated a number of times. For strawberries for instance, 3 harvests in a week, during 8 months of the year can be achieved. For crop like tomatoes, a single harvest occurs, and the plants are after harvesting replaced with new plants.

The system according to the invention allows for a high degree of automatization, while the floating crop carriers can remain afloat during the growth in the pond, the transport through the channels and the process in the handling station, such as harvesting of the fruits. This differs from known hydroponic systems such as Deep Flow Technology (DFT) system for growing of salad.

Because the crop carriers need not be lifted from the pond or from the channels during the harvesting process, the transport through the channels and placement back into the growing position in the pond, the growing conditions can be accurately controlled and no interruption in the growing process of the crops occurs from lifting of the carriers.

Because the fruit-bearing crop is transported to the handling station, the harvesting process is effective and can be carried out in an efficient way, either manually, semi-automatically or by means of a robotic harvesting system.

Placing the crops in the carriers that are arranged in rows in the pond, allows high densities of plants to be grown, such as 12 plants per square meter or more.

The frequency of human interaction with the crops during growing and harvesting can be reduced so that improved hygienic conditions prevail, and virus infections of the crop can be reduced.

In an embodiment of a growing system according to the invention, the loading push member comprises a gate structure hanging from a support frame that extends along the transport channel, the transport channel comprising along its remote side a channel wall, and being open at a pond side, the gate structure in a loading position being situated along the channel wall, and in a closing position being situated along the pond side of the transport channel.

The loading push member in its closing position is situated at the pond side of the transport channel and forms the separation between the pond and the channel. In the closing position, the loading push member contains the floating carriers in the adjacent row in the pond while allowing crop carriers to pass unobstructed through the transport channel. For loading of another crop carrier into the row, the loading push member is moved across the channel, freeing the access to the row from the channel.

The loading push member in the loading position extends along the remote channel wall so that crop carriers in the channel can align with the accessible row of crop carries in the pond and can then be pushed sideways into the pond by the loading push member moving back to its closing position.

The unloading push member may comprise a support structure extending in the width direction above the pond along a row or group of rows, carrying a boom that is engageable with a crop carrier in a row and a drive member movable along the support structure for moving the boom in the width direction along the row for pushing a crop carrier from the row into the transport channel.

Every row in the pond may be provided with a respective unloading push member that can move across the entire width of the pond. The boom of the unloading push member can be placed alongside the crop carrier that is situated adjacent the transport channel, and can, after the loading push member is placed in the loading position, be pushed into the transport channel by sideways movement of the boom, unloading the carrier from the row in the pond into the channel.

In an embodiment of a growing system according to any of the invention, the transport means are formed by at least one pump for generating a flow of water in the transport channel. This forms an efficient transport system of reduced complexity, using a small number of moving parts.

A transport channel can be provided along each longitudinal side, both transport channels extending to a harvesting channel, along a transverse side. The harvesting channel may be connected with each end to a respective transport channel.

The carriers from each row can be transported in a continuous cycle from the pond through the transport channel to the harvesting station, through the harvesting channel to the transport channel at the opposite side, and back into a row in the pond.

A lifting member may be situated at one side of the harvesting channel, near one of the longitudinal sides of the pond.

The carriers may be made of HD Polyethylene or closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam and may have a length of 1m - 15m and a width of 0.3m - 1.5 m.

A floating carrier that is particularly suitable for fruit bearing crop, such as strawberries, can comprise a plate with a central slit, a prismatic root container, comprising root loading cavities for loading a crop, each cavity comprising openings in the bottom, in fluid communication with the pond via the slit, and transverse flanges for guiding the stem and leaves of the crop, within the perimeter of the plate.

By the curved flanges, the stems and leaves are guided. Preferably the flanges do not extend beyond the perimeter of the plate, so that crops in adjacent carriers are well separated and damage to the crops during transport of the carriers is prevented.

In an embodiment, the container comprises crop guiding members that prevent the branches of the crop from sagging and touching the base plate, which would be damaging for the crop’s fruit.

The cavity can be of tapering shape and may have a height of at least 5 cm, preferably at least 10 cm, more preferably at least 15 cm. The tapering plug of roots of the crop can easily be removed from the cavities when the plants, after a number of harvests, have reached the end of their economic lifespan, without the need to cut the crop from the roots.

Brief description of the drawings

Some embodiments of a growing system according to the invention will by way of non-limiting example be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Figure 1 show a schematic view of a growing system according to the invention,

Figure 2a and 2b show a loading push member in the closing position and in the loading position, respectively,

Figure 3 shows an unloading push member for transporting rows of carriers in the width direction W,

Figure 4 shows a schematic view of another embodiment of a growing system according to the invention,

Figure 5 shows an embodiment of a floating carrier,

Figure 6 shows the base plate and a prismatic container of the floating carrier of fig. 5,

Figure 7 shows a cross sectional view of the floating carrier of fig. 5,

Figure 8 sows a top view of the floating carrier of fig. 5,

Figure 9 shows the tapering root plugs of the crop formed by the tapering crop cavities of the carrier of fig. 5,

Figures 10 and 11 show an embodiment of interconnectible plant containers for fruit-bearing crop,

Figure 12 shows a floating crop carrier with a number of interconnected plant containers as shown in figures 10a and 10b,

Figure 13 shows a floating crop carrier with a number of guide members for guiding of the branches, and

Figures 14 and 15 show a perspective view and a top view respectively, of another embodiment of a plant container according to the invention.

Description of Embodiments

Figure 1 shows a growing system 1 with a pond 2 having longitudinal sides 4, 5 extending in a length direction L and having transverse sides 7,8 extending in a width direction W. Rows 10, 11, 12 of crop carrier's float in the pond 1. The carriers 14, 15, 16 in each row are oriented with their lengths parallel to the longitudinal sides 4,5 of the pond 2.

On each side 4, 5 of the pond 2, a transport channel 22,23 is provided, extending form a remote position 26 near the side 7, to a harvesting station 30 that is situated near the transverse side 8. The carriers 24, are moved alongside the pond 2, through the feed cannels 22 from a position in each row 10,11,12 to the harvesting station 30 and, after harvesting of the fruits from the crops, back to a row 5 10-12 through the return channel 23. The harvesting station 30 comprises two harvesting channels 31, 32, that receive the carriers floating in the transport channel 22. In the harvesting station 30, the fruits are removed from the crops in the carriers which carriers and harvested crop are then moved back to a row 10-12 in the pond 2 via the return channel 23 for growing of a new harvest of fruits.

An overhead crane can lift the carriers containing spent crop from the harvesting channels 31, 32 for transport to a cleaning station for cleaning and a filling station for placing new crop in the carrier and replacing the freshly filled carrier in the growing system 1.

Each row of carriers 10,11,12 comprises a central push bar 35, 36 that is expandable in the width direction W. The push bars 35, 36 engage with central carriers 37,38 in row 11 and 39,40 in row 12 and push the carriers to the longitudinal sides 4,5 of the pond, for entry into the transport channels 22,23.

Over each row 10-12 of crop carriers, an unloading push member 50, 50’, 50” is movable in the width direction W for pushing a crop carrier from a position in a row in the pond 2, into a transport channel 22. For each row 10-12 of crop carriers, a loading push member 46,46’ is provided on each side of the pond 2 for pushing crop carriers in the width direction W, from the transport channels 22, 23 into a respective row 10-12 in the pond 2.

Figure 2a shows the loading push member 46 in the closing position. The loading push member 46 comprises a gate structure 44 that is supported on a frame 45 along the longitudinal side 4 of the pool, from a support member 45’ and is movable in a release direction Sr extending in the width direction of the pond 2. In the closing position that is shown in figure 2a, the gate structure 44 is situated along a pond side 47 of the channel 22. The carriers in a row 42 are locked in position by the gate structure 44. The carriers in the row 42 may be contained between sidewalls 43, 43’ extending in a width direction of the pond 2 between each row of carriers. The crop carrier 41 can freely pass through the channel 22 in the transport direction T, between a channel wall 48 at a remote side 49 of the transport channel 22 and the gate structure 44 at the pond side 47 of the channel 22.

Figure 2b shows the loading push member 46 in the loading position. The gate structure 44 is retracted against the channel wall 48 at the remote side 49 of the channel 22, so that the access of a carrier 41 into the row 42 in the pond 2 is now freed. The support member 45’ can be extended, so that the gate structure 44 is moved in the loading direction SI and is brought back into the closing position that is shown in figure 2a and the carrier 41 is pushed sideways into the row 42 of carriers floating in the pond 2.

Figure 3 shows the unloading push member 50 for unloading a crop carrier 55 from a row 42 in the pond 2, into the transport channel 23. The unloading push member 50 comprises a boom 51 suspended from a support frame 52. The frame 52 and the boom 51 are movable in the unloading direction Su that is parallel to the width direction W shown in figure 1 and are mounted on a guide rail 53 overhead of the pond 2. A drive motor 54 is provided to drive the boom 50 in the unloading direction Su and back.

Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of a growing system, comprising a pond 2 containing rows 10-12 of floating carriers extending with their length direction parallel to the longitudinal sides 4, 5.

Each row 10-12 is fully loaded with floating carriers. A single unloading push member is provided near first row 10. When the carriers are moved from the first row 10 via the unloading push member, the carriers can move in the direction that is indicated by the arrows to a new row. This causes the carries that are present in this new row to be pushed forward in the row, and in this way all rows, except for row 10 will be completely filled with carriers. The carriers are guided into the harvesting channels 31, 32 to be transported to the harvesting station 30, in which the fruits are removed from the plants.

From the harvesting station 30, the carriers with the harvested plants are moved through channels 97, 98 to entry position 99, and from there into the transport channel 96 along the transverse side 7. From the transport channel 96, the floating carriers are ejected into the transport channel 22 along the opposite longitudinal side 4 for placement in a row.

The plants that have reached the end of their economic lifespan, after a number of harvests of fruit, are removed from the carriers in a cleaning station 90 and discarded. The carriers are cleaned in a washing station 91 and forwarded to a filling station 94. In the filling station 94, new plants that arrive from a propagation station 92, on a conveyor belt 93, are placed in the plant containers of the carriers, after which the newly filled plant carriers are moved from the entry position 99 to the transport channel 96 and from there on back into one of the rows 10-12 in the pond 2.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a floating carrier 60 having a base plate 61 supporting two prismatic crop containers 62, 63. As can be seen in figure 5, the crop containers 81, 62 comprise a vertical body 66,67 and an upper transverse flange 68. In the vertical body 66,67, several crop cavities 64, 65 are formed that extend from the top of the vertical body to its open bottom, to be in fluid communication with the fluid in which the carrier base plate 61 floats.

As can be seen in figure 8, the base plate 61 is provided with a slit 69 that extends through the thickness of the base plate 61. In the slit 89, the lower section 68 of the bodies 66,67 is releasably received. By the releasable connection of the crop containers 62, 83 in the base plate 61, they can be easily handled for transport, cleaning or storage. Through the slit 69, the roots of the crop in the crop containers 61, 62 have access to the water and nutrients in the pond 2.

Figure 7 shows a cross-sectional view of the carrier 60, with the crop 70, in this case a strawberry, having its roots 75 in a tapering plug contained in the crop cavity 65. The transverse flange 68 with a rounded part 69, guides the stems, leaves and fruit of the crop 70. The flange 68 extends within the perimeter 71 of the base plate 61, so that the crop 70 does not come into contact with crop in an adjacent carrier and is well-protected from collision during handling of the carrier in the harvesting station.

The cavity 65 is open at its bottom 72, to provide access of the roots 75 to the water 73 in the pond 2.

The bottom may be comprising a closed surface with several holes, as can be seen in figure 7. The walls 74 of the cavity 65 are tapering, so that the roots 75 form a plug of tapering shape, that is easily released from the crop cavity.

Figure 8 shows a top view of the carrier 60 and shows the openings 76,77 in the bottom 72 of the crop cavities 64, 65.

Figure 9 shows the tapering shape of the roots 75 of the crop 70 in different stages of growth. The roots 75 are comprised in a compact plug which can be released from the cavity when the crop is depleted after a number of harvests of the fruits.

The dimension of the carrier 60 may be:

Length: 1 m-15m

Width: 0.3 m-1.5m

The dimensions of the container 62, 63 may be:

Length: 50cm -4m

Height: 20 cm - 50 cm

Width of the transverse flange 68: 15 cm — 50 cm

In figure 10 an alternative container 100 is shown, comprising a tapering cylindrical body 101 and a head part 102 forming a cup for an individual plant. The head part 101 comprises a male projection 103 and a female receiving part 104, so that the containers can be coupled, as shown in figure 11 for two containers 100, 105. Metal wire growing guides 106 can be placed around the body 101 for each container or for a few containers in a row, for guiding of the branches of the crop and preventing fruit from contacting the floating base plate.

In figure 12 a row 106 of interconnected containers is shown, placed with the lower part of the cylindrical bodies in holes 108 in a floating base plate 107 having a length of 2m and carrying 16 plant containers. In an embodiment, only the outer containers and middle containers are provided with growing guides 106. The growing guides 106 may be provided with supporting strips of the type that are described in figure 13.

In figure 13 a container 110 is shown having metal two wire support members at each end of the container, the support members carrying supporting strips 1117, 118 that extend along the length direction of the container 110 on each side of the crop. Each support member comprises two vertical bars 112, 113 carrying three lateral support bars 114,115,116. The branches of the crop are supported on the strips 117, 118 and are prevented from bending downward to such an extent that they touch the base plate.

Figures 14 and 15 respectively show a perspective view and a top view of yet another container 120 with a single head part 121, connected to a plurality of tapering cylindrical bodies 122, 123 that are integrally formed with the head part 121.

Claims

Conclusions 1 System (2) for growing a fruit-bearing crop, comprising: a basin (2) designed to contain a liquid, wherein the basin is provided with longitudinal sides (4, 5) that extend in a longitudinal direction (L) and transverse sides (7, 8} extending in a width direction (W), a number of rows (10, 11, 12) floating crop supports (14, 15, 16), the rows extending in the width direction (W ) of the basin (2), and wherein the carriers are mutually adjacent to each other in a row and are oriented with a longitudinal direction parallel to the longitudinal sides (4, 5), a transport channel (22, 23) containing the liquid, which extends along at least one longitudinal side (4, 5) of the basin (2), from an initial position (26) to a processing station (30), a push member (46) for loading placed near at least one row or group of rows, in which the pushing part for loading can be moved in the width direction (VW) from a far side of the transport channel, which is located at a distance from the basin (2), to a side near the basin of the conveyor channel, extending along the basin, for pushing a crop carrier from the channel into a respective row in the basin, an unloading push member (50) located near at least one row or group of rows, and that can be moved in the width direction towards the channel, for pushing a crop carrier from a respective row into the basin and into the transport channel, and a transport means for moving the carriers (14, 15, 16) through the transport channel ( 22, 23), from a starting position for transport to the processing station (30).

A growing system (2) according to claim 1, wherein the loading pusher member (46) comprises a gate structure (44) hanging from a supporting framework (45) extending along the conveyor channel (22, 23), wherein it transport channel (22, 23) comprising a channel wall along its far side and an open side on the basin side, and wherein the gate structure is in a loading position along the channel wall and in a closing position on the side of the basin of the transport channel (22, 23).

Growing system (2) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the push part for unloading comprises a carrier structure (53) extending in the width direction (WW) above the basin at the position of a row or a group of rows, carrying a boom (50) that can be brought into contact with a crop support in a row and a driving member (54) that can be moved along the support structure (53), for moving the boom in the width direction (W) along the row, for pushing a crop carrier out of the row and into the transport channel (22, 23).

4. Growing system (2) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the means of transport! is formed by at least one pump for generating a flow of water in the transport channel (22, 23).

A cultivation system (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a transport channel (22, 23) is provided along each longitudinal side (4, 5) of the basin (2), and wherein the transport channels (22, 23) extend to a harvesting channel (31, 32), along a transverse side (8), which communicates with each end of a respective transport channel (22, 23).

Growing system (2) according to claim 5, wherein the processing station (30) comprises a lifting part located near one of the sides (7, 8) in the transverse direction of the basin, for lifting crop carriers with an empty crop after harvesting from a channel, and exchanging it with crop carriers containing fresh crop.

7 Floating support (2) for growing a fruit-bearing crop, comprising a floating base plate (61) and a number of holder members located on the base plate, the holder members each having a cavity (64, 65) for receiving a root for receiving a fruit-bearing crop, the base plate comprising openings at the position of the holding members, the opening being in fluid communication with the basin, and each holding member comprising an opening (75, 77) in a bottom (72) , which is in fluid communication with a respective opening of the base part.

Floating carrier according to claim 7, wherein the openings are slot-shaped (69), wherein the holder members are prism-shaped, and comprise flanges (68) in the transverse direction, for guiding the stem and leaves of the crop, within the periphery (71) of the base plate (61).

9 Floating carrier according to claim 7, wherein the holder members comprise a cylindrical part for receiving a root and a flared top part that is optionally provided with coupling parts for interconnecting with an adjacent holder.

Floating carrier (2) according to claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein the cavities (64, 65) have a tapering shape and have a height of at least 15 cm, preferably at least 20 cm.

Floating carrier (2) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the part functioning as a holder comprises crop guiding parts (111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118).

12 Method for growing a fruit-bearing crop in a basin, comprising the following: - placing fruit-bearing crops in a row of floating supports, wherein the row extends in a widthwise direction of the basin, - transporting supports from the row to a harvesting station via a transport channel extending in a longitudinal direction L along the basin, - harvesting fruit from the crop in the carriers in the harvesting station, and - transporting the carriers back, from the harvesting station to a row in the basin , via the transport channel.

A method according to claim 12, wherein the floating carrier remains afloat when it is in a position intended for growing crops in a row in the basin, during transport in a transport channel, and during harvesting in the harvesting station.

A method according to claim 12, wherein the fruit-bearing crop comprises strawberries, and wherein the carriers are moved at least twice, more preferably at least three times, most preferably at least six times from the basin to the harvesting station and back to the basin.