Ronald was deliver in the Netherlands , but can definitely call himself an ' outside citizen ' by now . After the tropic agriculture schooling and a specialization in tropical phytopathology at Wageningen Agricultural University , Ronald left for the Caribbean . He later worked in Latin America , and South America and finally stop up in Africa in the banana tree trade . A year ago , he joined Marginpar , with the aim of stimulate the culture of our flower more sustainable .
To valuate is to knowCultivation starts with the grease . That is why Ronald ’s biggest dubiousness is perhaps : ' What can we do to handle the soil sustainably ? ' . Ronald : " We want to use fewer and fewer chemicals , but still protect the soil against diseases and pests , and keep the filth as workable and fertile as potential . Take the event of fertilisation efficiency , for example . Little is known about the culture of summer flowers . Research has mainly been done for and by , among others , jump company . So we have to explore ourselves where the limits are for our crops . We are doing this in cooperation with a laboratory in Kenya .
Ahead of new regulationsRonald : " There are more and more signals from the market that consumers want fewer chemicals in their product . This is being picked up by labeling organization , include the Kenya Flower Council and EPHEA ( Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association ) . found on this , organizations such as the Pest Control Products Board in Kenya make a list of products they want to ban . We are not wait until this actually happens , but are already investigating how we can apply organic pestilence control . We do this in cooperation with specialized companies . We are already encounter promising results there - within six months . "
Bokashi vs compostIn the past twelvemonth , the farms have switched from Bokashi to compost , for adding to the soil . Ronald : " Bokashi - same compost - is made from green waste from the farm , but it is packaged airtight . With compost , you want to tot up as much oxygen as potential . The big vantage of compost is that it ca n’t go wrong , and that it improves territory resilience . As a result , you do n’t ask to habituate as many chemical pesticide .
From A to ZA second important step we have taken this year is to deepen the scouting policy . Nowadays , every farm is scouted twice a hebdomad from A to Z for diseases and pestis . We have a quantitative marking organization ; the observations are submit in numeral , instead of the premature put on organization in levels , in which variance could not be shown . Now , farm managers and production manager have more insight into the real Department of State of affairs and can also impart out more targeted treatments , resulting in few chemical substance being used .
Horizontal learningRonald care to forge through horizontal erudition ; he first introduces a young system at one farm , after which that farm instruct it to other farms . Ronald : " I do n’t examine something new at all farms straight away . There is nothing more demotivating than constantly changing course . system do need to be seamster - made for each farm . Ronald : " Every farm require its own specific feeler due to the differences in , for example , altitude , pH values and water in the soil . I started writing manual . In these manual , I not only excuse what needs to be done , but also why . In this agency I hope to further people to go one step further . We now have a reconnoitering , propagation , polish and compost manual of arms . The appendices will provide farm - specific information . “A glimpse into the futureRonald : " This class we are move to focalize on organic gadfly control , sustainable soil direction and collecting more data on production . We have also drawn up a five - yr programme for scientific agriculture . We desire to reduce chemic substances and H2O role every year . The availability of water is decreasing , so we have to irrigate more efficiently . For example , we have to make certain that no bed are irrigated when there are no flora , or that plant food are applied with body of water when it is raining . We want to utilise water more strategically , but we do n’t bed exactly how we ’re going to do that .
