Delphy Team Vertical Farming’s mission is to develop and implement high-quality and trustful crop-cultivation knowledge for commercial Vertical/Indoor Farms. In this way, Team Vertical Farming is responding to the demand for knowledge arising from the fully controlled-environment cultivation of crops. Due to the absence of natural factors that determine production in crops, known cultivation knowledge for Vertical Farms must be adapted and partly redeveloped. The work of the Team Vertical Farming serves as a bridge between fundamental knowledge and applied know-how knowledge.
Our services
Research in our own Vertical Farms
Delphy Vertical Farms Research Centre is located at the Improvement Centre in Bleiswijk, Netherlands. We develop in-house knowledge using our high-tech, practice-oriented research cells and customer-tailored knowledge using our customer’s facilities. Our research facilities involve:
- 2 phytotron chambers with 7,2 m2 growing surface each
- 1 climate cell with >80m2 growing surface for the indoor cultivation of tall crops such as high-wire tomatoes (single layer)
- 1 multi-layer cell with 68 m2 growing surface divided into four layers for the cultivation of lower crops such as leafy greens (multi layer)
The chosen technology in these cells, including the climate and light systems, makes our research outputs scalable to commercial formats.
This project is made possible in part by the European Fund for Regional Development of the European Union and a contribution from the Province of South Holland.
Functional Design
When designing a new vertical farm facility, it is important that the crop is included in the design phase from the start. Delphy’s Team Vertical Farming provides functional design for a variety of different crops. Just like the functional designs that Delphy draws up for greenhouse cultivation, the functional design of Team Vertical Farming describes in detail the exact cultivation specifications of the crop such as desired climate, irrigation and light strategy and other cultivation-related parameters. A functional design thus provides the cultivation-related information that serves as input for the technical (engineering) design.
Training & Education
Team Vertical Farming provides online courses and on-site training on crop production in a vertical farm. On the one hand, there is a focus on practical treatment of the theory that determines cultivation strategy. In addition, practical aspects are discussed: what is practical when growing crops in a vertical farm?
Advice on cultivation strategy
Delphy provides cultivation advice to Vertical Farm growers and improves their cultivation methods in a holistic way. The crop is central and the focus of the advice is on understanding the direct interaction between the crop and the technical installation. Crop production is improved by jointly analyzing and optimizing these. This advice includes the use of different crop and climate sensors. In addition to collecting data, we also support customers in the interpretation and processing of this data. In this way we offer (remote) cultivation support to commercial Vertical Farms, both small and large, worldwide.
