Tropical Lowland
With more than 200 million people, Nigeria has become one of the biggest economies in Africa and while its population is growing rapidly, so does the need for food. Bosman Van Zaal realised a complete, turn-key tropical lowland, greenhouse project in the Abuja region in Nigeria to produce vegetables. The project consists of two tropical lowland greenhouse modules each 0.5 hectares in size.
Engineers and agronomists at Bosman Van Zaal designed this turn-key greenhouse concept specifically to cope with the hot and humid climate conditions of tropical lowland regions around the world. The greenhouses are equipped with a carefully designed irrigation and hydroponic system, fully adapted to the local circumstances. A Hoogendoorn iSii Compact computer provides precision control and monitoring of the production process. Currently, SCL Farm grows conventional outdoor crops such as corn and soya on a hundred hectares of arable land. The board of SCL has decided to dedicate 10 hectares of this land to kick start their greenhouse project.
Turnkey Greenhouse
These two greenhouses form the first step towards their larger ambition to reach a total of 10 hectares within the next few years. These greenhouses are specifically designed to grow highwire vegetable crops, also known as vine crops. During the start-up phase, production will focus mainly on tomatoes. Meanwhile, other vine crops such as bell pepper and cucumber were successfully trialled and will soon be planted on a commercial scale as well.
Most of the production finds its way to the fast-emerging supermarket sector in and around Abuja. Alternatively, production is sold to the surrounding hotels and restaurants and the lower quality grades are sold to the traditional street markets. This project not only contributes to Nigeria’s answer for its growing need for food, it also provides job opportunities and spreads agricultural innovation throughout the region.