Miljøgartneriet, Norway’s largest nursery, its partner LOG and Signify’s horticulture LED department take a step to grow tomatoes and peppers year-round locally, under LED lights.

The goal is to increase opportunities for local production, and reducing the climate impact that comes from importing foreign produce. Signify has supplied Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact for the 70,000 square meter greenhouse in Naerbø, Rogaland, Norway.

For many years, Signify has studied lighting and plants and has found the perfect lighting recipe for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other fruits and vegetables. Miljøgartneriet can therefore provide the plants with the right spectrum and light intensity at the right time. By helping them control growth, planning and increase productivity.

Kåre Wiig, Miljøgartneriet, said: “Many supermarket chains want to be able to offer their customers fresh and tasty fruits and vegetables with a significantly lower carbon footprint than those that come from Southern Europe. This is something we can provide all year, thanks to our cooperation with Signify. We chose Signify because they can do more than just providing LED lighting. We have good, close cooperation with their plant experts to get the most out of the lighting solution so that the vegetables get the best possible growing conditions. This means that we can easily adjust production as we get better at growing vegetables, and Signify can also bring in different experts if necessary.”

Miljøgartneriet has installed Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact, in combination with the GrowWise control system, making it possible to dim the lights providing even light levels throughout the production cycle.

Henrik Nørgaard, Commercial Operations Manager for Agriculture, Signify, said: “We are really proud that Miljøgartneriet sees the potential of cultivating with our lighting. Our lighting solutions should be seen as a cornerstone of production. We start with defining what is grown, the physical framework of the greenhouse and the production goal, and based on this we create an optimal mix of micromoles, spectrum and timing; the light recipe, together with the grower. With the solution, we can avoid the overuse of both water and electricity, as well as the environmental burden with transport from Southern Europe, and instead can get fresh, locally-produced vegetables in Scandinavia year-round.”

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