GreenTech’s annual Innovation Awards celebrate horticulture’s thriving technical scene

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: On the opening morning of its Live & Online event on 28 September, GreenTech celebrated its annual awards ceremony. A panel of expert judges handed out awards in two categories: Concept and Innovation.

Crowned winner in the first category was Corvus drones BV for the best use of Corvus Drones in a greenhouse environment. In the Innovation category Van Iperen International scooped up the coveted award for GreenSwitch Original, the first Nitrate fertilizer from organic source.

The judges praised the holistic, interdisciplinary design approach of the winners. Chairwoman Liselotte de Vries from TU Delft AgTech Institute says: “The winners teamed up with other experts, adopting a systematic approach, which is key for future circularity and upcycling solutions to hold commercially and to drive meaningful impact. It’s a strength that they do not look at the greenhouse industry in isolation.”

The judges praised winner Corvus Drones BV for developing is a fully automatic flying drone in horticulture greenhouses for crop monitoring purposes. Corvus drones stand out for their automatic navigation based on visual odometry software as GPS signals are too weak to capture in a greenhouse. Growers can apply the drones to check seed germination, maturing stages of plants and leaf area measurement. Corvus uses a subscription model, and the jury believes this approach is inspiring for other businesses.

The second prestigious winner, Van Iperen International, deserves credit for developing ‘fertilization made easy with big contribution to circular economy’. The GreenTech jury praised the systems-approach that GreenSwitch takes by tying together different actors in the food and energy supply. Plus they see a potential for worldwide application.

To check out the longlist of all the entries of the Innovation Awards please visit: https://www.greentech.nl/live-and-online/innovative-products/. And the shortlist of nominees: https://www.greentech.nl/live-and-online/innovation-award/nominees/

Visitors can still register via www.greentech.nl/live-and-online/

GreenTech Live & Online will be held until tomorrow, Thursday 30 September 2021.

GreenTech Amsterdam will be back in full physical format, from Tuesday 14 – Thursday 16 June 2022.