According to an independent study conducted by the University of Turin, NGS, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of hydroponic equipment, markets a Soilless Cultivation SystemSCSwhich is an innovative and versatile. This NGS system stands out for its commercial and productive advantages, as well as for its plant cultivation performance by facilitating root aeration and preventing hydroponic nutrient solutionHNSflow blockage. A Laboratory-Scale Pilot Plant (hereafter LSPP) based on the use of NGS technology was set up in a greenhouse under mild climate conditions with the aim of obtaining a standardized, homogeneous and representative experimental system. The LSPP, designed, configured and implemented to test out the use of NGS technology to achieve improvements at the technical and system level,
allows the deployment of multiple treatments and replications to conduct reliable data analysis and statistical designs. In this sense, results show that the use of NGS technology prevents drinking water contamination as well as negative impacts on surrounding ecosystems. An additional advantage is its great potential for automation (resulting in labor savings for planting and harvesting processes) and the opportunity to manage optimal plant densities during crop cycles. The study identifies additional NGS system advantages, namely improved input control and crop maturation, applicability to multiple species, and greater oxygenation compared to other Soilless Cultivation Systems (SCS).
