Bioreactor supports water quality and plant resilience on pepper farms
‘Pressure lower due to strong roots and harder plant’
Since pepper grower Arthur Mooijman has focused on resilience, his plants have remained more vital and are less affected by diseases and pathogens. Since the commissioning of a bioreactor that aerates and microbiologically enriches the irrigation water, these effects are even more noticeable. “Plants benefit more from oxygen-rich water with good micro-organisms than from sterile water,” he says with conviction. “I no longer have root diseases and my plants are clearly more vital and stronger.”
The purchase of an Agrona bioreactor in 2022 was a new step on the road to resilient cultivation, which Mooijman had already taken a few years earlier. “It actually happened by chance”, the entrepreneur from Nootdorp looks back. “I was also growing cucumbers at the time. It was a year with bad prices and just then the UV installation failed. There was no money to replace it, so it was exciting to see how the water quality would hold up. Strangely enough, my crop seemed to respond very well to the fact that the return water was no longer disinfected and microorganisms were no longer killed. That got me thinking.”
Resilient cultivation
The entrepreneur immersed himself in resilient cultivation and embraced Koppert’s Natugro concept. “The plants responded well to that,” he says. “I saw a more vital, stronger crop that was less susceptible to diseases and pathogens. The fertilization was also adjusted, in particular the nitrogen dose was reduced. That also contributes to a harder crop, which is less attractive to aphids, for example.”
Bioreactor
A few years later – the financial tide had now turned for the better – the entrepreneur bought a second location in Berkel en Rodenrijs. Peppers were also planted there, to which he had now completely converted. “And there was also a UV installation that needed to be replaced, but water disinfection no longer suits my way of growing,” adds Mooijman. “Instead, a bioreactor came in February last year, about which I had already heard and read about.”
Working principle
The operating principle of the bioreactor is based on aeration and microbiological enrichment and purification of irrigation water. The reactor vessel contains a growth medium on which beneficial micro-organisms can settle and multiply. These organisms – such as specific fungal and bacterial cultures based on Trichoderma and Bacillus species, among others – must be added by the grower himself. The nutrient solution AG Stim, also supplied by the manufacturer of the reactor, stimulates the growth and multiplication of microlife.
The water in the reactor vessel is aerated to create an oxygen-rich water environment. “That is good for the beneficial micro-organisms and less good for pathogens,” says the grower. “An additional advantage of oxygen-rich irrigation water with good micro-organisms is that both pathogens and organic pollution are broken down and converted, so that the pipes and drippers remain clean. The beneficial bacteria and fungi can establish themselves structurally in the mats – we only use organic mats.”
Positive effects
Mooijman suspects that the positive effects of the bioreactor come into their own even better in organic mats. “They form a better business environment than stone wool slabs,” he notes. “I see that the crop at the new location is even more vital and stronger than here in Nootdorp. At both locations, the analyzes show that the pressure of pathogenic fungi such as Pythium is very low. In Berkel en Rodenrijs the aphid pressure is remarkably low and the plants look even stronger and more vital. It is always difficult to compare different locations and greenhouses, but I assume that the production and fruit quality at the location with bioreactor will be at least equivalent to last year and maybe even better. It is clear to me that the focus on resilience pays off.”
Text: Jan van Staalduinen, beeld: Marleen Arkesteijn
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