Hungarian tomato and pepper grower Árpád-Agrár began working with Crop Controller from Blue Radix a year ago. While it took some time to fully implement and master the system, the results after the first season are positive. Grower Ákos Magyar is looking forward to benefiting even more from the Autonomous Growing system in the new season. We explore his experiences and also highlight the perspective of János Lóczi, President at Gremon Systems, on how they support Árpád in their Autonomous Growing journey.
Ákos Magyar is a horticulture- and plant protection expert at Árpád. He has been working at the company for more than 10 years and is responsible for a greenhouse of 4 hectares, where they grow tomatoes. Árpád grows tomatoes and peppers in high-tech greenhouses, spreading over 40 hectares. Additionally, they grow young plants on 7 hectares. The company is located in the south of Hungary and it’s one of the largest vegetable companies in the country. Over the years Árpád has invested in new greenhouses, new projects, and new technology.
Seamless part of our business
“I started working with Crop Controller a year ago”, says Ákos. “I was very happy when I first heard that we were going to have an autonomous control system at our company. I already imagined that I would be able to sit down in my chair and watch the plants grow”, he says smiling. “No, but I did hope that I would have more time for other things within the company.”
He soon realized that the best way to make autonomous growing a success, is to first invest time and energy into the system. Since then, he has been working closely with Blue Radix and strategic partner Gremon. He has stayed in regular contact with experts from the two companies, such as Geert van der Wel, Blue Radix’s Autonomous Greenhouse Manager and János Lóczi, President of Gremon Systems.
“Crop Controller will bring us many benefits in the next years, and when everything is in place, the system will work so smoothly that it’s a seamless part of our business. Yet, the learning process was longer than I expected. It took some time for me to trust the system completely, because I was used to working in a different way for 10 years.”
Ákos was not the only grower at Árpád who started working with Crop Controller. “We implemented it in several greenhouses, so my colleagues and I could share experiences. But we grow different varieties, which means the settings are different too.” That’s why he was very happy with the support from Blue Radix. The knowledge and experience of Autonomous Greenhouse Manager Geert van der Wel was essential at the start, Ákos says. “He helped with all the settings, and he is always easy to reach if I have questions or concerns. Due to his help, the start went smoothly.” The support consisted of help with the settings and configuration of Crop Controller, but that wasn’t all. “Knowing that you are not alone makes you more confident and gives you the courage to trust the system more and more.”
Good yield and reduced electricity use
In the past year, some things changed in Ákos’ way of working. Looking at the results, Ákos talks about a good yield in this past season. “Besides that, Crop Controller kept the climate a bit colder. Because of that, the usage of thermal water, which we use for our heating system, has decreased. And this also applies to the use of electricity.”
The analysis done by Blue Radix and Gremon shows that in the greenhouse that ran autonomously, settings were only adjusted 1 to 2 times a month. The results showed, amongst others, a 16% reduction in heat usage in the greenhouse and a 15% more accurate 24hr temperature control.
Ákos is happy. “I’m still trying to get completely used to the system and understand everything, but I’m getting there. Also, I get input from our crop consultants. My personal goal for the coming season would be to include their advice also in the crop strategy input for Crop Controller. That would harmonize the cooperation.”
More accurate steering
“Integrating data from the local weather forecast is an important part of Crop Controller, says Ákos. “It makes the steering of the climate even more accurate and better. And I also look forward to using the irrigation module this coming season. There are two critical periods in irrigation in Hungary. One of them is right after planting, because of the low light intensity. We have to turn off the heating, so we don’t irrigate the crop and keep the plant still generative enough. The next critical period is in the summer, when we can get really high temperatures. So, if the irrigation module can manage those two critical periods, it will be an important additional feature of the system for us.”
Ákos believes Autonomous Growing will remain a key priority for the company for years to come. “As we currently see worldwide, artificial intelligence is a priority, so is autonomous growing. Especially in our area, where there is a high demand for manual labour. But I don’t think we can do without human knowledge. We need the perfect balance between people and AI to be successful in the future.” The experiences at Árpád will inspire other companies in Hungary to start working with Autonomous Growing too, Ákos expects. His advice to them: “Start learning how it works!”
‘Help growers understand’
János Lóczi is President at Gremon Systems in Hungary. Since Árpád started working with Crop Controller he helped them to get a better understanding of how the system works. Not just by translating between Árpád and Blue Radix, but also to help Ákos and his colleagues understand the different setting options.
“At Gremon Systems we focus on first-hand plant data and using different types of sensors. We have developed a special data analysis software. We look for correlations and we help growers understand what settings, what type of data are important, and what needs to be changed to achieve a better result. Somehow, we position ourselves as a company that is somewhere in between the traditional way of growing and the autonomous way of growing. Because even if you have an autonomous solution, the strategy is your responsibility as a grower”, says János.
Gremon Systems is a partner of Blue Radix. “We recommend our system as a hardware component of the irrigation module of Crop Controller. Due to the high-quality hardware and the high-quality data. That is how our collaboration with Árpád began. Now we work together closely to help them get the best results.”
No alternative
János believes in Autonomous Growing. “Definitely. Globally, there is a lack of knowledge and a lack of experts. I believe there is no alternative for Autonomous Growing to solve that problem. At Árpád the first year was challenging, mostly because they’re still building trust. But in the next season I think they will make even greater use of the system’s full autonomous potential.”
