About Clément
Vincent and Davy Clément are owners of a 3,5 ha glass tomato greenhouse at Arles in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône. After assisting their parents in their tomato nursery for many years, they decided to start with their own 2,3 ha nursery in 2007 and added another 1,2 ha in 2013. Their vine tomatoes and diverse other tomato types are sold through Les Paysans de Rougeline, a major player in France that has gained the top position in quality and brand.
Challenge
The semi-closed ModulAIR greenhouse of Clément uses active mechanical ventilation. The greenhouse is put under super-pressure to create a homogeneous climate and minimize insect load. Outside air is brought into the greenhouse to influence dehumidification and cooling. This requires a specialized and flexible automation system to control climate management. For this reason, the Cléments were looking for suppliers that offer them problem-free solutions which easily adapt to the specific weather conditions in this region.
Solution & Results
Vincent Clement: “We chose Hoogendoorn’s iSii process computer because their climate management system was the only system that was actually able to supply us with a made-to-measure product by calculation. An example is the mechanical ventilation capacity in relation to our geographical location.”
Together with the development team, Vincent Clément defined the values sought: the conditions under which the plants will grow best at any moment of the day. Both growers value the flexibility in the ViP settings: these provide much freedom in determining the influences that affect crop growth. All settings related to irrigation and climate can be influenced by any parameter measured by the iSii computer. “We respond to all the parameters at the same time: the outside temperature, the interior temperature, the wind direction and plenty of other factors. With other suppliers it’s more the software that influences the regulation whereas with the iSii we interact with it ourselves. Due to its open system, iSii allows more freedom in programming.”
The Cléments combined the iSii system with the Hoogendoorn Aquabalance water system for optimum irrigation control. “Now our plants are given the right amount of water at exactly the right time both during the day and at night”.