Our Global Innovation and Demonstration Center in Irapuato Mexico has been developing best practices growing strawberries in a retractable roof now since 2019. This center is located at 1,700m elevation with very high radiation and has temperatures reaching +40C with RH levels down to 10% and then heavy rains in the summer.
Our goal is to harvest strawberries 12 months per year!
Our tests over these years have included:
Testing 5 different retractable roof coverings
The impact on total yield, the length of the harvest season and insect pressure between high pressure fog and low pressure mist
Raised table tops with slabs versus pots and bags
Different substrates
Different varieties
Our range of retractable roof solutions which can help your berry business:
Advance or delay your harvest to hit the high market prices and be more valuable to your buyer
Prevent reductions in shipments due to extreme and sudden rain, heat, frost, hail or wind
Increase your plant density and yield per hectare which allows you to produce on a smaller footprint.
Reduce chemical insecticide and fungicide usage so that you can lower your cost of production and comply with stricter limits from your buyer
Use water more efficiently so you can produce more without increasing your water usage
Provide maximum flexibility for the adoption of machine spraying or harvesting
Minimize labor requirements throughout the operation and maximize labor comfort to reduce turnover
Auto-Dry™ motorized rain shelters, Flat Roof cooling houses or Flat Roof + Auto-Dry™ are the perfect lower cost field covering systems that fit the needs of most berry growers.
You can watch a video summarizing the key learnings here
Book summarizing the 35 years of experience and history of the retractable roof houses, 4th edition