Passion for a better future

Watch the Webinar: Growing a better future together

Watch the Webinar

Watch the Webinar: Growing a better future together

Food production has to double while using half of the resources of today. But how? The seminar ‘Growing a better future together’ shares and discusses the results of new research on greenhouse vegetables in light of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It helps to find answers to the question how the growing industry can live up to the ever-growing expectations of consumers to provide fresh, healthy food that respects the boundaries of the planet.

Key visual growing a better future together

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GT Master, Plantop

Everything starts with passion

With great pleasure we present our Grodan story to you. Our story is about passion, the Precision Growing philosophy is in our genes: higher yields while using less of the world’s valuable natural resources. The impact of Grodan on people, planet and profit is distinctive and contributes to a future-proof horticulture, providing people around the world with access to healthy food today and for generations to come.

How to feed the world in 2050?

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In 2050, the earth’s population will be 9 billion, 70% of whom will be living in urban areas. This growing urban population will need access to healthy and nutritious food.

It is estimated that we will have to produce double the amount of healthy, nutritious food with half the resources of today. This leaves us with one of today’s biggest challenges. Water, fertilisers, land and energy are crucial resources for food production. Less than 1% of the earth’s fresh water is easily available and suitable for human use. 70% of that water is used for irrigation in agriculture. Reserves of fertilisers, that are crucial for the production of food, are running out. Continuous and increasing demand on land resources has had a negative impact on the area and quality of land available for food production.

More information?
Download our report "How growing media have an impact on feeding a growing population"

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Our roots in sustainable growing

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Grodan supplies innovative and sustainable growing media solutions for professional growers and home gardeners. For almost 50 years our team has been dedicated to creating the optimal environment for roots resulting in healthy and strong plants. We are driven by developing the most sustainable growing solutions and by making these accessible to communities across the globe. This is our contribution to a future-proof horticulture that will provide people around the world with access to healthy food not only today but for generations to come.

Our growing media solutions are designed for Precision Growing, which is the most sustainable way of growing. This is all about giving the plant exactly what it needs. This effective way of growing leads to a better yield and quality of fresh produce while at the same time using valuable resources in the most efficient way.

More information?
Download our report "Growing media and the efficient use of nutrients"

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Producing more with less

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Producing more with less is in our roots. Since we invented hydroponic stone wool growing in 1969 we have continuously evolved the Grodan approach to sustainable growing. Our first customers started growing hydroponically to avoid disinfection of the soil which was done with methyl bromide, a heavy toxic chemical. Our growing media enabled them to provide the plants with water and fertiliser much more precisely and efficiently. By doing so the yield per square meter further increased, while at the same time saving water, fertiliser and subsequently saving on costs.

Grodan can be seen as one of the Founding Fathers of Precision Growing for the horticulture industry. Today, growers make use of a wide range of innovative products for the entire growing cycle from the start of propagation till harvesting.

More information?
Download our report "Using less water when growing hydroponically"

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Precision growing for everyone

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Precision Growing enables professional growers to better control important growing parameters and to ensure the optimal growing environment for root development in stone wool. Grodan is the number one of the world in growing media solutions for the professional horticulture industry and has the purpose to “empower Precision Growing for everyone”.

This sustainable growing method holds promising potential in countries with high population growth where demand for resource-efficient food production is already high and will continue to rise in the future. Grodan hydroponics can be sited anywhere, including in urban areas that would otherwise be completely unsuitable for traditional soil-based production. Inner-city derelict land and even unused buildings such as old mills, factories and office blocks can now become unique growing areas for our food. The resulting reduction in food miles also has an additional sustainability impact on the food chain.

More information?
Download the report "How soilless growing has an effect on less water pollution"

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Passion for People, Planet and Profit

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Our research reports

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Growing media and the efficient use of nutrients

One of the 15 global challenges formulated by the Millenium project is “How can population growth and resources be brought into balance?“ One aspect of this challenge is improving the use efficiency of the global resources e.g. nutrients. These nutrients are just as important to agriculture as water.

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How growing media have an impact on feeding a growing population

World population is expected to grow another 1 billion in just 12 years, and reaching 9 billion people in 2050, creating unprecedented demand for food, and hence agricultural land. To keep up with population and economic growth, food production should increase by 70% by 2050.

Download report
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Using less water when growing hydroponically

Water scarcity is one of the global challenges. The problem of water scarcity is a growing one. Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. Food and agriculture are the largest consumers of water. As more people put ever increasing demands on limited supplies, the cost and effort to build or even maintain access to water will increase.

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Grodan experiments with recycled plastic in foils: 'Quality is guaranteed.'

Grodan has been working on various recycling trials for several years, an important step when it comes to sustainability. What are the benefits for growers when we use recycled materials in our products, how exactly does it work, and what is involved?

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How soilless growing has an effect on less water pollution

One of the 15 global challenges defined by the Millenium project is ‘clean water’. The UN-water (2010) statement contains the following text: “As a global community, we must refocus our attention on improving and preserving the quality of our water, a challenge that requires bold steps internationally, nationally, and locally. Directing global priorities, funding, and policies to improve water quality can ensure that our water resources can once again become a source of life.

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Feeding a world population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 would require raising overall food production by some 70% between 2005/07 and 2050. Production in the developing countries would need to almost double.

Related blogs and thinking stories

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From green fingers to data-driven cultivation

In the world of marketing terms such as data mining, AI or machine learning have gained a solid foothold. But their increasing use in horticulture is quite new. Not so strange, since the sector demands new business models in order to realize the transformation from green fingers to data management in the greenhouse. The nice thing is that it’s possible. Let us explain why.

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Optimizing plants is a grower’s daily task. Many growers make frequent use of Wageningen University’s knowledge for it. Professor Leo Marcelis has been researching plants in greenhouse horticulture at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

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Collaborative approach results in Best Practice guidelines for Greenhouse water Management

Consumers are increasingly looking for quality food which is healthy, safe and at the same time cultivated sustainably.

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Precision Agriculture

Sustainable on three counts thanks to stone wool substrates

Less soil, less water, less fertiliser, lower CO2 emissions, but a significantly higher yield. That’s precision agriculture. Stone wool substrates play a key role in this. When plants have their roots deep in the stone wool you can regulate the growth process in the best possible way. This is one of the sustainability benefits of cultivating plants on stone wool. But there are others too!

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We are a global leader in the supply of innovative stone wool substrate solutions for the professional horticultural based on Precision Growing principles.

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