🍆 Greenhouse Eggplant Farming & Harvesting - Eggplant Growing Cultivation Agriculture Technology ▶3

Good work starts with good preparations. In the Netherlands, aubergines are grown in greenhouses. That means it'll never be cold at work, while in summer it can get quite warm. So, on a warm day, wear light clothing. If you wear long sleeves, then make sure that they are tight so they don't get stuck. The work is very physical. You'll be doing a lot of walking and standing up. So make sure to wear good, sturdy safety shoes. Hygiene is very important. Do not wear any jewellery, and if you have long hair, tie it up. You should always wear a hair net while sorting and packaging. Two days a year, in November or December, the aubergine plants are planted in the greenhouse. By then, the plants are about 30 to 40 centimetres tall. Place the plants on the stone wall mats. This way, the roots can nestle in the rock wall. Aubergine plants grow upwards, along a rope. The ropes are tied and hung from the greenhouse construction four weeks after the planting. Each plant receives three ropes, one for each main branch. You secure the three ropes to the three main branches for this. You tie these ropes to the main stem of the plant. It is important you do this accurately. The ropes should not be too tight, but also not too loose. Because the plants are still small, this work is done while sitting. You sit on a little stool that you move forward with your feet. Several side shoots emerge from the main stem of the aubergine plant. We call them runners. The runners should be removed, since they limit the growth of the plant. You can break off the runners by hand. This is done about one to two weeks after being secured. The three main branches of the aubergine plant are secured with a rope. This rope should remain tight, in order to steer the growth of the branch in the right direction. Therefore, the rope should always be turned a bit further around the stem. Each plant is tightened once every three weeks. While the plants are not very tall, you can do this while walking. Later, you work on a lifting platform, which runs on a rail. The tightening must be done accurately, in order to prevent any flowers from getting entangled in the rope. While topping, you remove a piece of the top part of the plant. You do this to make the plant grow less quickly. Topping happens throughout the growing season, simultaneously with the working on runners and the tightening. By mid-May, the aubergine plants grow so high that the harvesting team starts to work on pipe rail trolleys. Then, they can no longer reach the lowermost fruits. Therefore, the lowermost fruits from the plants have to be cut away. Branches that hang in the way are also cut away. This makes the work easier for the harvesting team. This is physically demanding work, because you have to lift up heavy crates in a warm greenhouse. The aubergines that are fully grown are cut and placed in crates. After that, they can be sorted and packaged. Whether a fruit can be harvested does not depend on the color, but on weight. At the beginning of the harvesting period, we begin with a minimum of 160 grams. Later, the minimum average weight slowly increases to 260 grams. Harvesting is done from February to October. Harvesting is hard work, because you have to lift heavy crates in a warm greenhouse. You also work a lot with your arms above shoulder height. The harvested aubergines are sorted and packaged in crates in the warehouse. Then, they are shipped to the customer. In the sorting warehouse, the carts and the sorting machine are connected. They weigh the crates and send them to the loading station. Here, the employees place the aubergines on the conveyor belt. They lie in little cups. This is actually a type of weighing scale. The little cups ensure that the aubergines with the same weight land up together. Via the conveyor belt, they arrive at the correct exit for their weight class. The employees place the aubergines in boxes at the exits. The aubergines of poor quality have already been removed as much as possible. Sorting takes place from February to October. The work in the warehouse is less warm than in the greenhouse. All plants are removed from the greenhouse in November. You cut the ropes loose and pull the plants downwards. This way, you get the greenhouse ready for a new season with new plants. Here, you see how it is done in cucumber cultivation. In the aubergine cultivation, things are more or less the same. Now, you know the basics of cultivation. It is time to start. Abewerkt wishes you lots of success in the aubergine greenhouse.