Hollandia Uses Advanced Hydroponics To Conserve Water
Hollandia uses its hydroponic system to grow lettuces and leafy greens in Carpinteria located in Santa Barbara County, CA. This production method conserves large amounts of water versus growing in the field.
As the water scarcity in California continues, due in large part to a severe and persistent state-wide drought, water-conserving technologies like those used by Hollandia are increasingly important.
Using a continuous-flow-hydroponic system known as nutrient film technique (NFT), a very shallow stream of water containing all the dissolved nutrients required for plant growth is recirculated past the bare roots of plants.
Hollandia's hydroponic growing techniques recycle water while also limiting water loss due to evaporation. Soil erosion is also not an issue in this system. All of this results in a tremendous reduction in overall water use compared with growing in the field.
Hollandia's hydroponics system conserves 66-84% of the water that would be used if the lettuce were to be grown in the field. This calculation depends on the region, soil structure, time of year and irrigation method used. In addition, hydroponic greenhouse production of lettuce generally produces roughly 3.5 times more lettuce per acre than conventional field growing methods, thereby reducing the amount of arable land necessary for production.
While there are energy costs associated with greenhouse production, Hollandia has taken significant steps to optimize energy efficiencies in its facilities. Overall energy consumption has been reduced through modernization: energy-saving thermal curtains, efficient heating systems, and maximizing the solar efficiencies of the greenhouses. Over the last 10 years, energy consumption has been cut by 60%.
Water conservation is important, not just because of the current drought situation, but because it is a key aspect of sustainable agriculture in general that is too often overlooked.
Hollandia's efforts show that the company is dedicated to using technology in order to conserve water while producing top-quality products.
Hollandia Produce
