’t Goy – apples and pears
‘Proactive for a cleaner living environment’
The products grown in the top fruit sector are all grown outside, where their growth is affected not only by the weather and the number of hours of daylight they receive, but also by disease and plagues from their direct environment. As these product are harvested only once, risks must be kept to an absolute minimum. Grower Wim van Wijk opts for sustainable solutions. His horticulture company focuses on food safety, reducing its ecological footprint (especially where this concerns water and soil) and actively exchanging horticultural knowledge.
Sustainable crop protection
Van Wijk has been seeking collaboration with other growers and research institutions to reduce usage of crop protection agents. This grower uses newly developed nozzles that reduce the undesired displacement of crop protection agents through the air to outside the application area by no less than 95%. As a result, discharge into the surface water remains limited.
Furthermore, a sustainable method is used to eradicate weeds by recycling drain water from a nearby pig farm. This water contains high levels of nitrogen which burns weeds. Moreover, nitrogen acts as a fertiliser. Wim van Wijk now uses this innovative application in the cultivation of fruit.
One of the most notorious pests in the cultivation of top fruit is the codling moth. A sustainable method is used to check these moths using a pheromone disruption technique. This technique makes it impossible for the males to find a mate. In extreme cases, organic crop protection agents are used, but the use of any type of crop protection agent has been reduced strongly through the application of this technique.
Care
A harvest coordinator ensures that the fruit is treated carefully during the picking process, reducing the chance of fruit rot to a minimum. Van Wijk also installed a new system to promote the economical use of water, in which the trees are watered with drops instead of being sprayed. Waste is another issue addressed with due care. Wood chips are gathered from cleared lots and transported to an incinerator for use as a source of energy.
Van Wijk also uses compost to enrich the soil and fertilise the fruit trees.
Preserving knowledge for future generations
Van Wijk is convinced of the importance of preserving knowledge for future generations and supervises students who are enrolled in fruit cultivation programmes. The company also organises excursions regularly to show what the cultivation of fruit is all about and what is required to grow a good apple or pear. Van Wijk also participates in a steering group in the Kromme Rijn area and looks after the interests of the fruit cultivation sector.
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