White Lion Holdings is a cannabis growing consultancy with over 50 years cumulative growing experience and a footprint in more than half of South Africa’s commercial-scale cannabis farms.
Their experience includes working in testing laboratories and seed banks as well as cannabis grow operations and cannabis farms across the globe, including Amsterdam, the United States, Lesotho, Australia and Africa
Having perfected genetic breeding, cloning, distillation and extraction to achieve precise, predictable results, White Lion Holdings looked to Bosman Van Zaal South Africa to design and deliver a state-of-the-art commercial greenhouse to support their cultivation needs at scale.
The solution implemented by Bosman Van Zaal needed to meet the following criteria:
Through close collaboration with White Lion Holdings, Bosman Van Zaal were able to use their technical expertise and substantial industry knowledge to deliver a bespoke state-of-the art greenhouse build from architectural design right through to engineering and construction.
With all the technical engineering, professional support as well as maintenance aspects taken care of, the White Lion team were able to focus solely on doing what they do best, cultivating market leading cannabis.
Cornel Van Der Watt, director and chief cultivation officer at White Lion Holdings, who is looking to Bosman Van Zaal for support and solutions for future expansion challenges stated, “The project was a great success, the proof is in the pudding and we are still in constant communication with the Bosman Van Zaal team as we have been since inception of the project”.
Bosman Van Zaal South Africa was given the opportunity to implement a bespoke solution for upgrading an existing, rapidly expanding, large-scale commercial greenhouse farming operation.
The client, operating in the fruit sector, not only required an upgrade, but also needed to repurpose the existing infrastructure to be suitable for crops different to the original use case.
Due to our technical expertise and ability to deliver, Bosman Van Zaal South Africa was selected from various applicants to overcome the following challenges:
Through close collaboration, the client had the opportunity to effectively communicate their vision through the various stages of the project as we met frequently, taking the time to walk through the site and find solutions together.
This also allowed Bosman Van Zaal to use our experience for assessing the client’s unique needs and solving problems at a technical engineering level.
The following systems and equipment were designed, implemented and integrated to make it easy and user-friendly for the farmer to set and maintain the desired parameters for efficient large-scale crop production in a controlled, adaptable and accessible manner:
Are you looking for a trusted partner with the technical expertise and experience to take your farming business to the next level? Contact Bosman Van Zaal today - South Africa’s market leading commercial greenhouse engineers. We’ll help bring your vision to life!
Fountain Hill Estate, a farm involved in managing various commercial agricultural activities, was looking for a service provider with the expertise and capabilities to design and implement a bespoke greenhouse solution for their new venture; growing and supplying avocado seedlings.
Due to the complexity and intricate nature of the growing process of the seedlings, and to ensure that the commercial standards for optimum yields and quality were met at scale, an automated climate control system was a non-negotiable to achieve the precise control required for a successful outcome.
Bosman Van Zaal’s track record of being market-leading commercial greenhouse engineers made us the ideal candidate for such an undertaking.
Apart from constructing a state-of-the-art commercial greenhouse, complete with automated cooling system and energy screen, we supplied and installed a climate controller (HortiMax-Go!) that enables the pre-setting of parameters for controlling the desired inputs.
An example of this would be setting the climate control parameters corresponding with the current season. Setting the sunrise and sunset offset time parameters allows them to be synchronised as they change with the seasons. With the GPS coordinates set, the computer’s weather station gathers information needed to adjust sunrise and sunset offset times automatically. This allows for automated ventilation, the opening and closing of screens as well as heating and cooling (pad and fan system) to occur at the desired times for optimum crop production.
The installed climate computer included the following:
After this, the climate control period can be set. This is done by setting the temperature stages for different periods as per the video tutorial below:
The beauty of using the HortiMax-Go! controller to handle all the complexities of climate control is that its Windows based control display makes it intuitive and easy to operate.
The entire solution was rounded off with Bosman Van Zaal providing the training the growing team at Fountain Hill Estate required to manage the system on their own.
Are you looking for a bespoke, automated commercial greenhouse solution to boost crop production and your agricultural operation’s productivity? Contact Bosman Van Zaal South Africa today!
Last year, Bosman Van Zaal South Africa (BVZSA) featured a case-study on our website that showcased a modular containerised farming solution we designed for a social enterprise. The solution included the implementation of the HortiMaX-Go! for automated irrigation and climate control.
Since the roll-out of this solution we've received an overwhelming positive response from the chief executive farmer of Green Terrace farm, Mbali Nwoko, who implemented the very same system. Mbali stated that using the system has led to decreased production input by almost 50%.
Manually managing and maintaining processes like irrigation, fertigation and climate control for greenhouse farming can be extremely inconsistent, challenging and labour intensive when trying to do so at scale. This results in a decline in optimum crop yields which could otherwise be mitigated through the implementation of a computerised control system.
However, controllers like these are usually expensive and complex, making them tricky to implement.
Fortunately, a system like the HortiMaX-Go! exists in the market to solve all of these challenges simply, efficiently and affordably.
The low in investment costs, easy setup and ease of operation through it's intuitive, user-friendly touch screen, make the HortiMaX-Go! the ultimate solution for fine tune control over irrigation and climate for your farming operation.
An additional bonus is that the system can also be accessible via a mobile app connected to the cloud, allowing easy monitoring and offering peace of mind.
Using the HortiMax-Go! system has decreased our production input at the farm but almost 50%. Previously we had to do things manually and now our irrigating, fertilising and crop management is done automatically using the system. Its great to see my crops performance using the system as it gives me peace of mind that my plants are getting the required nutrients in order for them to grow. As a Farmer/Farmer Owner, it's helped me focus or direct my attention to other things that can grow my business whilst I know that the fertigation system is handling and managing my production on the other end.
Mbali Nwoko - Green Terrace
Bosman Van Zaal SA was recently contacted by a commercial grower to assist with solving a problem that involved a specialised growing system for cash crops, herbs, leafy greens, and strawberries, etc.
Although the grower had extensive cultivation experience, he needed to find a partner with the willingness and expertise to design and prototype the desired solution/product during the initial research and development phase before going to market. Having worked with us on various successful projects in the past, Bosman Van Zaal became his logical choice.
The grower saw an opportunity in the market for developing a modular, automated flood and drain hydroponic grow system that would offer quick harvesting turnarounds, produce optimum and consistent quality yields, while at the same time, delivering efficiencies in energy and water savings.
With no affordable entry-level system available that offers fertigation control on a modular hydroponic system in the local market, the solution needed to lower the barrier to entry for new growers/businesses starting out, while also providing an easier opportunity for traditional farmers wanting to play in a different space.
Combining the grower’s extensive cultivation experience with our vast industry knowledge we were able to model our designs after an existing concept used in large-scale commercial applications and overcome the logistical challenges posed to deliver a downscaled, modular prototype.
Computerising this system provided the essential data in the form of a feedback loop which would allow us to refine the irrigation and fertigation parameters necessary to produce optimum and consistent quality crop yields. To achieve this we integrated the HortiMaX-Go! computer which was the perfect alternative to other high-tech solutions that would have made the viability of the exercise impossible while adding unnecessary complexity for new growers.
In the end, we were able to successfully design a modular, computer controlled hydroponic system, complete with electronic fertigation dosing and electronic valve connections for irrigation. To top it all off, the automated climate and fertigation controller has the ability to be managed remotely on a mobile device over the internet.
The solution provides growers with the ability to irrigate 24 hours a day and fertigate around the clock if needed. Remote access via the mobile app also allows for the real-time mitigation of potential risks associated with 24 hour cultivation.
Made with RuralTM (MWR) is a social enterprise that brings together key players in the rural development and agribusiness sector to provide opportunities and tools that enable rural farmers to participate meaningfully in South Africa’s economy.
Bosman Van Zaal was delighted and privileged to be introduced to their initiative for uplifting emerging farmers by a farmer, who based on his previous experience in our quality products and services, was confident in our expertise to provide a suitable irrigation and fertigation solution for a project which presented a unique set of challenges.
In July 2019, MWR was appointed as an implementation partner for the 18 month long South African Breweries Young Farmers Program aiming to provide young emerging farmers with access to farming infrastructure to play an active role in commercial farming, access to commercial markets and access to training and mentorship. For this initiative to be a success, farmers needed to be able to maintain plant health for producing consistently good quality yields suitable for a competitive marketplace while aiding in their mission to “take their network of farmers to the world, and bring the world to them”.
The project was made more difficult by the need to overcome various challenges around logistics, security, control, accessibility and efficiency in the 10 farms around the country where the solution needed to come to fruition.
Through our experience and innovation, while closely collaborating with MWR, Bosman Van Zaal was able to design a completely new product to overcome the unique obstacles presented by the project along the way:
A fully containerised and modular pump station, complete with a fertigation dosing system. The electronic irrigation valve connections of the system have the ability to be automated via a climate and fertigation controller that can be remotely managed from a mobile device with an internet connection.
All the components of the product come fully fitted inside the container, making it a robust, secure and complete, lock-up-and-go solution, overcoming security and hazardous weather challenges.
The horticultural computer fitted to the solution is the all-new HortiMax-Go. It’s designed for producers who are starting to grow protected crops while leaving out the unnecessary complexities of more expensive, high-tech solutions on the market.
It enables/supports the efficiencies and control needed to produce consistently good quality yields, like integrated climate, irrigation and fertilizer dosage controls.
All these benefits combined make it the perfect solution for emerging farmers in remote areas needing to fertigate more efficiently while gaining the necessary control over their desired cultivation outcomes, all through a mobile device in the palm of their hand.
Bosman Van Zaal has 90 years of experience in the development and construction of greenhouses and over 40 years' experience with technical systems for international horticulture.
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