Woolvation has the objective of introducing an eco-innovative, sustainable approach to greenhouse tomato cultivation in Europe by supplying sheep wool as cultivation raw material.
With a cultivation volume of around 152 million tons in 2009, tomatoes are the most popular vegetable in the world, followed by cucumbers, bell peppers and melons. It is estimated that around 90% of the world’s tomato production volume is grown in greenhouses, out of which roughly 75% rely on the Holland System. The Holland System is characterised by long rows of cultivation blocks, which are used as a growing base for tomato plants. The most commonly used cultivation blocks are made from rock wool. Rock wool blocks however, have three major problems:
- They are produced in a very energy and emission intensive process;
- Rock wool does not contain any nutrients. When used as a growing base, it is therefore necessary to add all necessary nutrients to the irrigation water;
- At the end of their lifetime (one greenhouse season), rock wool blocks are considered a hazardous, non-recyclable toxic waste and have to be disposed of at high fees.
Woolvation introduces a new, fully sustainable approach for greenhouse cultivation. Instead of relying on rock wool, the Woolvation project aims at introducing cultivation blocks made from raw sheep wool (Woolvation blocks). The commercial production and usage of Woolvation blocks will be highly beneficial for the environment and bears significant economic potential.
From the environmental point of view Woolvation blocks offer advantages such as:
- Sheep wool in these days has very little use (only 5% of Europeans production ), goes mostly back in for land filling and is sometimes even burned. With a new application for raw sheep wool sheep farmers will receive a selling opportunity instead of wasting their wool;
- The use of Woolvation blocks in green houses means that the addition of fertilizers can be reduced to a minimum;
- After its lifetime (one season) Woolvation blocks don’t need to be disposed but can potentially be further used as agricultural fertiliser or be mixed into fermentation processes in bio-gas plants.
In addition to these environmental benefits Woolvation blocks create new business opportunities for sheep and tomato farmers. The new application for sheep wool in tomato cultivation creates a new market for shepherds on which they can sell their wool. Tomato farmers benefit in two different ways. Firstly, an initial field test of Woolvation blocks has shown a 10% higher tomato yield compared to cultivation on rock wool blocks, creating a major business opportunity for green house farmers. Secondly, studies suggest that natural nutrients support a more natural tomato taste an increase the amount of antioxidants within the plant, thus helping to grow tastier and healthier products.
