Ostellato. Providing Italian tomatoes from the same site 365 days a year, at the rate of production systems that guarantee a saving of 70% of the surface area used, and 70% of water, compared to traditional cultivations. This is the mission of Fri-El Green House, the energy company that produces hydroponic tomatoes under the H2Orto brand, towards zero or almost zero-impact agriculture: 380 employees work there, and next year, not by chance, they should become 450.
The Fri-El group, based in Alto Adige, founded six years ago and among the main Italian producers of energy from renewable sources (wind, biomass and biogas in particular), is therefore relaunching its 'diversification' by inaugurating today another twenty hectares of new iron and glass greenhouses in the industrial area of Ostellato, in the Ferrara area. The two new containers are called 'Ostellato 3' and 'Ostellato 4', confirming the progress of a broad development plan that does not seem to stop.
The intuition of not wasting the heat generated by the company's biogas power plants, using it to grow quality vegetables, remains valid. Of the total new production area in Ostellato, ten hectares are already operational while another ten will be starting in March. With the new expansion, the company reaches a production area of 31,1 hectares of iron-glass greenhouses. The normal solar cycle is not enough, in fact, given that the market has responded well to hydroponic tomatoes for some time now: part of the heating needed to ensure year-round production is achieved precisely through the residual hot water produced by the adjacent biogas plants, recovering energy.
Furthermore, hi-tech greenhouses offer low energy consumption and an abundance of light in the spectrum that can be used by plants, avoiding waste: they are illuminated with LED lights, necessary for winter production, perhaps not very 'romantic', from the point of view of the natural cycle of crops in the seasons, but considered very efficient also from the point of view of the good taste of the tomato.
This was the mantra at today's inauguration event by Ernst Gostner, president of Fri-El, and Alessio Orlandi, the group's sales & marketing director, alongside the ribbon-cutting ceremony by the President of the Region, Stefano Bonaccini, his Councilor for Agriculture, Alessio Mammi , and Massimiliano Giansanti , national president of Confagricoltura.
Bonaccini and Mammi emphasize in unison : "We must help and support companies like the one here in Ostellato today, deploying public and European resources. Over the next 18 months, we will provide €408,8 million to regional agricultural businesses, seeking to support them in protecting their production as well as investing in technology and digital technologies, focusing on precision agriculture, or helping them reach new markets."
H2Orto's production currently consists of vine tomatoes, cocktail tomatoes and cherry tomatoes certified "nickel free", an aspect that in turn has contributed to a good diffusion in the markets. In addition, the company uses integrated pest management and therefore beneficial insects that fight weeds, to avoid pesticides and glyphosates. The greenhouse ecosystem works in a closed cycle, managed through a super software that controls the climate, irrigation and humidity, through the reuse of all the vital components for the plant.
In all of this, Orlandi emphasizes: "We are contributing to decarbonization by focusing strongly on sustainability, not so much as a slogan but as a real corporate interest in producing responsibly. We are moving toward a carbon-free company," Orlandi assures , "with new greenhouses and new projects."
Gostner emphasizes on site in Ostellato, in front of the new agricultural spaces: "We can call this the largest greenhouse in Italy. We've been growing for some time in the energy transition. We will eliminate the use of fossil fuels and embrace renewables. We're committed to decarbonization."
And Andrea Launeck , managing director of Rijk Zwaan Italia, a multinational leader in the seed and vegetable research sector, one of the sponsors of the new greenhouses in Ferrara, adds: “We are here today because we provide the genetics of the tomatoes used and some of the tomato varieties that are grown here, cherry and cocktail or large bunch with branch, are developed by our company, sharing innovation and sustainability as guidelines”.
