“The structure of the Rabobank Westland funds will change. The former Cooperative Fund becomes a new social fund. The former Innovation Fund and DIT initiative merged into a new innovation fund," explained Wim Halverhout, Director Bedrijven Grootzakelijk.
Aggregation
The merger of the Innovation Fund and DIT initiative should provide more clarity to customers especially. "We noticed that the market was not always aware that there were two funds for innovation," continues Wim. "In addition, people often thought that we only supported innovations in the horticultural business. This uncertainty prompted us to merge the two innovation funds. The applicant must still be a customer of our bank, but the application can come from all sectors. Furthermore, any initiative should be innovative, durable and help the region on the way." The voice of our members in both new funds remains important. Some members of the council are part of the allocation committees. They have an advisory role in the applications. "The councillor members in the new innovation fund have to bring in the necessary expertise from different sectors. Otherwise, it is rather difficult to make a balanced judgment of the presented projects. We expect to go on with what we already did: to firmly put the Westland region on the map.”
'Arcadia Chrysanten’
Arcadia Chrysanten has already received financial support for innovation. For many years this company has applied Eco-cultivation. This cultivation method includes using screens and an aeration system to create an ideal climate in the greenhouse, so energy consumption is reduced to a minimum. In 2013, Arcadia tested, thanks to a contribution from DIT initiative, the feasibility of Eco-cultivation in chrysanthemums.
Following this, Arcadia submitted a new application to upscale the test area to a business company. "Because we have placed air conditioners in the outer wall, which warm dry air and blow it through a trunk above the crop," explains director Bert van Ruijven. "The innovation lies in the dehumidification along with heated air." At this time in chrysanthemum growing humidity can only be influenced by heating and airing.
Eco-cultivation keeps the screens completely closed. Thereby creating a more stable climate and saving gas. "Dimming is a must in chrysanthemum cultivation and therefore it is necessary to close the screens for several hours. This creates an undesirable heat build-up under the cloth. This problem is largely solved because we can also cool with the air handling units. We expect this innovation to achieve a decline in gas consumption from 30 to 22 cubic meters. We hope that this innovation enables us to grow a higher quality product."
Source: Rabobank Dichterbij
