Plant Empowerment The true story
According to a well-known saying, successes have many fathers. Nowadays, various versions of the origin of Plant Empowerment are circulating. In addition, sometimes there is confusion about the concept’s purpose and intellectual propery. This true story is based on verifiable facts.
New insights through combining physics and plant physiology
This was the reason for starting a new research project on the behaviour of plants related to the greenhouse climate. This research, carried out by P.A. van Weel (Wageningen University and Research) and J.O. Voogt (Hoogendoorn Growth Management), revealed that existing theories on plant behaviour and climate control were partly incorrect and contradicted physical laws and basic principles of plant physiology. In cooperation with researcher P.A.M. Geelen, they developed a new cultivation concept based on plant physiological and physical laws. This resulted in a paper entitled: Climate control based on stomatal behaviour in a semi-closed greenhouse system, “Aircokas”, published by the ISHS in 2008.
Het Nieuwe Telen
In the autumn of 2009, an innovation stimulation project called “Het Nieuwe Telen” (HNT) was introduced for the Dutch greenhouse horticulture. This was part of the “Kas als Energiebron” (KaE) programme, supervised by the Dutch cooperative growers’ organisation LTO and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
In short, HNT was a 7-step plan to realise energy-efficient semi-closed cultivation. These seven steps were a summary of a report written by WUR (E.H. Poot et al.), commissioned by KaE, as an evaluation of the practical experiences with semi-closed cultivation up to that time. This report incorporated the new insights from “Aircokas” and the findings from various other relevant studies. During that period, the emphasis was mainly on dehumidifying the greenhouse air by injecting outside air via air conditioning units. In practice, however, this yielded little energy savings, rather the opposite.
Commissioned by KAE, the researchers mentioned above, P.A. van Weel and J.O. Voogt, published their report: “Physical analysis of the moisture and energy balance of a greenhouse” (WUR report GTB 1185, 2012). This report summarises the results and new insights from their previous Aircokas research and provides guidelines for energy-efficient climate control.
Knowledge transition
Since the end of 2013, the HNT programme has increasingly focused on knowledge transfer to stimulate the application of these new insights and to optimise cultivation in existing greenhouses with existing equipment without significant investments.
In 2015, LTO / KaE published the book “De basisprincipes van Het Nieuwe Telen”, written by P.A.M Geelen, J.O. Voogt and P.A. van Weel, the founders and developers of these new methods, to support and accelerate the process of knowledge transfer. For many years, this book has formed the basis for an education and training programme for Dutch growers, crop advisors, and specialists in the supply industry. In addition, horticultural education became increasingly interested in including the principles of HNT in their curriculum.
Next Generation Growing
Het Nieuwe Telen was translated into English as “Next Generation Growing” for the international market. However, it should be considered the first implementation of the new concept, mainly focused on the Dutch way of growing, the Dutch climate conditions, and the Dutch standards for greenhouse technology. Moreover, it is often primarily associated with energy saving, which is incorrect and frequently leads to misinterpretations.
Plant Empowerment
Over the years, the basic principles of the balanced cultivation method have been further developed, refined and expanded into a complete, coherent philosophy of greenhouse cultivation aimed at optimal crop growth in a sustainable way.
In 2016, the authors chose the new name “Plant Empowerment” to better express that the concept takes plants’ natural behaviour and growth power as its starting point.
In 2018, the book “Plant Empowerment, The Basic Principles” was published in English and later translated into Dutch and Spanish. Since then, the Plant Empowerment philosophy has proven to be applicable worldwide for many different types of crops, a wide range of climate conditions and varying levels of greenhouse technology.
The Plant Empowerment Academy
The founders and authors of Plant Empowerment strive for a worldwide sustainable greenhouse horticulture. This requires an integrated approach and cooperation of all stakeholders, which should not be hindered or delayed by commercial interests and competition. That is why the authors have founded the independent Plant Empowerment Academy. This is the publisher of Plant Empowerment books, the holder of the intellectual property (copyrights) and operates an independent platform where participants can join forces in Learning Communities. By exchanging knowledge and experiences, the development of sustainable cultivation methods worldwide is strengthened and accelerated.
The Plant Empowerment Academy shares independent and objective information about sustainable and profitable cultivation via the website Plant Empowerment Academy and other channels.
The commercial Plant Empowerment Foundation
For the first edition of “Plant Empowerment the Basic Principles” in 2018, the authors partnered with LetsGrow.com. At the time, this was a logical partner as an independent data platform provider for international horticulture and the associated digital internet tools to monitor and visualise cultivation and the greenhouse climate. LetsGrow fulfilled the role of publisher in the partnership. Triggered by the book’s great success, LetsGrow decided to take a further step. With several commercial partners, they claimed Plant Empowerment as a trademark to promote their companies, products and services. In addition, they operate a knowledge platform through their books, courses, and webinars to disseminate information and generate potential customers (hot leads) for the affiliated companies.
These commercial companies have even operated jointly under the name “Plant Empowerment Foundation” in recent years.
The founders and authors of the Plant Empowerment concept are explicitly in no way involved in this foundation and activities.
Together we can make a difference
Plant Empowerment has proven to be a universal concept for achieving more effective and sustainable cultivation methods under varying climatic conditions. The implementation may differ depending on local conditions and available technical resources. An intensive open collaboration between all parties involved, such as research and educational institutes, growers and investors, suppliers, cultivation advisors and technical experts, governments and other organisations, is essential. That is why the founders and authors of Plant Empowerment are making the concept available in book form to all parties who wish to commit to this. See the page Mission.
Ambassadors of the Plant Empowerment Academy
To guarantee the independence of the Plant Empowerment Academy, it cannot enter into commercial relationships but welcomes Ambassadors who want to contribute to the common goal.
Companies, institutions, growers and organisations that want to join the Plant Empowerment Academy as an Ambassador are invited to contact us. See the page Ambassadors.
Digital Growing
Since 2020, a growing interest has been in data-based cultivation using modern computer techniques such as artificial intelligence (AI). The Plant Empowerment concept is particularly suitable for digital growing because it is based on plant physiological and physical laws. At the same time, an increasing need was felt for a uniform monitoring protocol for application in research and practice. Therefore, the authors published an additional manual, “Plant Empowerment Digital Growing”, at the end of 2023. This describes a structured method of cultivation monitoring with associated sensors and crop observations, as well as the necessary digital tools, such as dashboards, to support the practical implementation of the Plant Empowerment concept. This can also significantly accelerate the learning curve and the sustainability transition.
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