Signify enters alliance for knowledge development in medicinal cannabis cultivation

June 9, 2022

Signify (grow lighting), Plagron Professional (fertilizers, substrates, and additives) and Light4Food (climate technology, indoor cultivation systems) combine knowledge and expertise
Joint research takes professional legal cannabis cultivation to the next level

Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, has entered into a strategic partnership with specialist supply company Plagron Professional and Light4Food, which develops indoor growing concepts. The partners jointly invest in research into integrated and variety-specific cultivation optimization and new cultivation concepts for legalized cannabis cultivation. The research program covers the entire production process, from propagation and cultivation to post-harvest technology.

The R&D-focused knowledge alliance has a test facility in the Netherlands specially equipped for cannabis, for which a permit has recently been granted. Although heavy investments are being made in legal cannabis cultivation worldwide, professional cultivation is still under development. The new consortium wants to collect data on a scientifically sound basis and develop new knowledge leading to better, more predictable cultivation results. The sharing of existing knowledge and expertise, focused on current research questions, will accelerate progress.

Integrated approach

The partners each contribute their own unique knowledge and expertise: Signify as the world leader in lighting and LED technology, Plagron Professional as developer and producer of fertilizers, cultivation substrates, additives and cultivation advice and Light4Food as an R&D company and turnkey supplier of indoor cultivation and climate systems. “The strength of this alliance lies in the integrated approach to cultivation optimization,” says Udo van Slooten, business leader Signify Horticulture LED solutions. “All three of us are used to serving the market on that basis. Within this alliance our plant specialists work closely together with specialists from Light4Food and Plagron Professional. Applying research in our own, modern test facility makes the whole more than the sum of its parts.”

Clear added value

Marketing strategist Jan van Seventer of Plagron Professional endorses Van Slooten's words. “We see a clear added value in this alliance,” he says. “Licensed cannabis producers need integrated solutions. Moreover, working together in R&D will also elevate our joint knowledge to a higher level.

René van Haeff - Managing Director Light4Food

Indoor cultivation concepts

Light4Food shares these high expectations. Over the past five years, the company has invested a great deal of time and energy into developing an indoor hydroponic growing system for leafy crops and herbs, which is now successfully being rolled out in North America on a turnkey basis. “Medical cannabis is a new market segment for us, but we have been developing indoor cultivation concepts for fifteen years,” says managing director René van Haeff. “The collaboration with Signify and Plagron Professional gives us the confidence that we can make concrete progress quickly. After a short trial cultivation to adjust the hardware and software for lighting, irrigation, and climate control, we are ready to carry out the research on a continuous basis.”

LED toplighting and interlighting

The research should, among other things, provide more knowledge about the specific lighting needs of cannabis varieties in the different cultivation phases. The climate chamber is equipped with Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact fixtures and the GrowWise control system, so that the intensity of the white grow light can be adjusted as required. Half of the cultivation tables are equipped with LED interlighting, in order to determine the added value of inter canopy lighting as well. In combination with other optimization aspects of cultivation; ranging from climate settings and watering to fertilization and bio stimulants, this will result in well-founded cultivation concepts and strategies that offer tailor-made solutions for customers.

For further information, please contact:

Global Marcom Manager Horticulture at Signify

Daniela Damoiseaux

Tel: +31 6 31 65 29 69

E-mail: daniela.damoiseaux@signify.com

www.philips.com/horti

Plagron

Steven van Eekeren

E: servicedesk@plagron.com

T: +31(0) 495 631 559

About Light4Food

Light4Food develops and realizes technical solutions for sustainable cultivation of crops in an efficient way that can be applied 365 days a year. In this way, we make it possible to provide every place in the world with fresh and locally grown food. Through continuous research into the interaction between plants and technology, we develop systems in which cultivation can be completely controlled and automated.

About Plagron Professional

Since 1992, PLAGRON develops its own nutrient formulas and manufactures a complete range of fertilizers, substrates and additives. Licensed producers around the world rely on our in-house grow experts and R&D specialists for effective & efficient plant nutrient solutions. Individual needs and adjustments feed PLAGRON's R&D program in order to upgrade nutrient formulas regularly. That's how it all works: Everybody's secret sauce.

About Signify

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings and public spaces. With 2021 sales of EUR 6.9 billion, we have approximately 37,000 employees and are present in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We achieved carbon neutrality in 2020, have been in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index since our IPO for five consecutive years and were named Industry Leader in 2017, 2018 and 2019. News from Signify is located at the Newsroom, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Information for investors can be found on the Investor Relations page.

Signify enters alliance for knowledge development in medicinal cannabis cultivation

Integrated approach

Clear added value

Indoor cultivation concepts

LED toplighting and interlighting

For further information, please contact:

About Signify

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