Pioneering Sustainable Substrate for Accelerated Quality Cultivation

Project Information

Hollandplug

Grant agreement ID: 808760

DOI

10.3030/808760

Project closed

EC signature date 2 February 2018

Start date 1 March 2018

End date 30 June 2018

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

HOLLAND PLUG INTERNATIONAL BV
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Hollandplug (Pioneering Sustainable Substrate for Accelerated Quality Cultivation)

Reporting period: 2018-03-01 to 2018-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In a world where the population is growing exponentially and land for farming is becoming less available, soilless cultivation is a more than necessary methodology to keep producing enough food to feed this population.
With HollandPlug we intend to introduce in the market a completely biodegradable system that allows for efficient, fast growing of crops with low water, fertilizer and energy consumption.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During Phase 1 of HollandPlug we have evaluated the technical, commercial, and financial feasibility of the project carrying the following actions:
- Establishing the parameters of the testing procedures and a plan for implementation of production pilots.
- Assessing the technical, commercial and financial risks of the project, their level and the measures to be taken to minimize impact.
- Studying the agriculture and horticulture market and the hydroponics sector, the geographic characteristics, the trends and barriers to be faced, and the competitive landscape. This has allowed us to define our strategy for
HollandPlug commercialization and the end-users targeted.
- Defining our IPR strategy and establishing complete freedom to operate.
- Evaluating the certifications and regulations that affect HollandPlug in a direct manner, as well as those affecting and driving our end-users.
- Defining our business plan in terms of the stakeholders to be involved in testing procedures and in the supply and value chains.
- Analysing the costs of running our own production lines, the required funding for our commercial endeavours and the different sources to finance them.
- Exploring potential joint ventures.
- Assessing the market share available and various scenarios for the 5-year sales projection and how this will impact the return on investment and company’s growth.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

HollandPlug offers a 60% reduction in water demand and 15-35% lower need of fertilizers than the competing soilless systems in the market. This will allow soilless farming to become a much more attractive procedure for horticulture farmers:
- Reducing the usage of fertilizers has a direct impact on soil and air pollution, since they are a major source of NH3 (non-CO2 greenhouse gas).
- Water is scarce in many regions, which makes soilless farming very attractive.
- Soilless farming is less affected by climate events that are becoming more and more prevalent.
It is therefore a powerful tool to address the need to feed an ever-growing population.

image-1.png