Brought to you by Engie
Mechanical cooling as sustainable sprout inhibition
The use of the sprout inhibitor and herbicide chlorpropham (chlorpropham) is prohibited from 1 January 2020. A decision by the European Commission, which presents many growers with a challenge. How do you maintain the quality of your products? Mechanical cooling and condensation drying offer a solution.
"Cooling is by nature already a means to prevent germ formation," says Marcel Bennink, specialist in agriculture and horticulture at ENGIE Refrigeration. “However, fluctuating weather conditions make it increasingly difficult to control the temperature within a storage cell with outside air. With mechanical cooling you are no longer dependent on that outside air. A fully closed system ensures that the conditions remain constant and that all phases of the production process are fully controlled. This means less germination occurs during the storage phase. The quality of the product is preserved and the longer storage time allows a grower to respond better to price developments in the market."
Worth the investment
"It is logical that not every grower immediately has room for a major investment such as a completely new storage shed", Bennink understands, "but we now know from experience that the investment is well worth the money. The closed, mechanically cooled storage environment gives germination much less chance anyway. In fact, with these storage conditions no extra sprout inhibitor is needed for onions anymore. For potatoes, organic sprout inhibitors are a good alternative to the soon-to-be banned chlorpropham. These are considerably more expensive, but due to the closed system, it evaporates This means you need much less of it for the same effect. This makes mechanical cooling also attractive for organic potato and onion cultivation."
Higher operating profit
Because the products have a longer shelf life and good quality, they lose less weight and yield more. "In addition, mechanical cooling also means sustainable production," says Bennink. "Not only because of the use of natural refrigerants, but also because of the possible reuse of residual heat that is released during the production process. This can be used, for example, to heat other rooms. Finally, growers save a lot because the use of gas heaters is no longer necessary. "
Would you like to know more about mechanical cooling and sustainable alternatives to soon-to-be banned germ inhibitors? Then ask for the free knowledge document about mechanical cooling and / or condensation drying us.