Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks After several consecutive years of night frost damage to pears Beck Fruit from Sint-Gillis-Waas had had enough The decision was quickly made when they met Ernst Slabbekoorn of Swift International at the Zeeland Fruit Growing Day in Goes where he showcased the latest innovation in Frost Fans The Flemish fruit-growing company invested in eight Eco Boosters that can be used in combination with wind machines The Eco Booster generates additional heat in the orchards by burning wood pellets while the wind machines distribute the warmth "We hope this will provide extra heat in the orchards during the flowering period," says Micheline Beck the Eco Boosters were delivered to the company cultivating around 80 hectares of Conference pears Beck Fruit already had two frost protection machines and the Eco Boosters—regardless of brand—can be used in combination with them "We'll only use the Eco Boosters a few days a year during the flowering period but not having them can lead to major damage after suffering several years of frost damage We weren't yet familiar with the system and hadn't heard of any experiences from fellow fruit growers but we went ahead and ordered eight right away." "We've known Ernst Slabbekoorn for 20 years from his time in sales and we often spoke with him at trade fairs The principle of the Eco Booster immediately appealed to us It's easy to use—the system is filled with pellets and then lit We believe the extra heat will really help us during night frosts," Micheline says Ernst Slabbekoorn has high hopes for the Eco Booster in combination with wind machines "These Eco Boosters are compatible with all wind machines and are an environmentally friendly alternative to oil The Eco Booster contains no electrical components or motors but is cleverly engineered and uses the Venturi effect." For more informationErnst SlabbekoornSwift International(Import, distribution, sales)[email protected]www.eco-booster.com Frontpage photo: © Swift International B.V. FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com ​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishECONOMY, HEALTHBird flu hits Belgian poultry farm as outbreak spreads 18 February 2025 Belgium has recorded its first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) this year at a poultry farm in Sint-Gillis-Waas The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FAVV) confirmed the news on Tuesday This follows five earlier cases detected among hobby poultry keepers the authorities have established a three-kilometre protection zone around the affected farm poultry keepers within a 10-kilometre radius are required to confine their birds with stricter rules applying in the core zone "The number of infections in wild birds has increased in recent weeks," said FAVV spokeswoman Hélène Bonte "This indicates the presence of the virus in Belgium and poses a serious risk to poultry kept outdoors We strongly advise owners to protect their birds from wild species for example by covering enclosures with netting" Infections in wildlife were already recorded in Belgium this year including a dead goose and a sick swan in the province of Limburg a grey heron and two seagulls on the coast is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects birds with strains classified as either low pathogenic (LPAI) or highly pathogenic (HPAI) based on their severity poses significant risks to bird populations leading to mass culling in poultry farms to prevent outbreaks avian influenza has spread to six continents affecting at least 485 species of birds and around 50 species of mammals the avian flu crisis has led to a severe shortage of eggs and skyrocketing prices more than 150 million birds have died from bird flu prompting supermarkets to ration egg purchases and restaurants to add surcharges to egg-based dishes poultry farmers worldwide are facing increasing economic pressure #FlandersNewsService | © Moisés ÁVILA / AFP Copy linkGet updates in your mailboxYour email addressSubscribeBy clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy rapid and high-quality information 24 hours a day from Belgium and abroad to all Belgian media not to mention entertainment and lifestyle our journalists and press photographers produce hundreds of photos and news stories Since the end of March 2022 English has been added as a language businesses and various organisations that need reliable information Belga News Agency also offers a comprehensive range of corporate services to meet all their communication needs www.belganewsagency.eu more options for controlling the climate and crop and substantial energy savings: the advantages of LED lighting seem almost endless But how does this work in practice and what do you need to bear in mind as a grower talks about his experiences with full LED in combination with the Philips GrowWise control system from Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) Hortis Group grows tomatoes at two sites in Belgium: Sint-Gillis-Waas and Moerzeke The company has over 14 hectares of cultivation area in total This is where Hortis Group is now growing for the first season using full LED in combination with the GrowWise control system Dirk Willaert explains how he arrived at this decision: "I felt that I had to start listening more to what the plant requires 2.5 hectares are illuminated in Sint-Gillis-Waas and they recently decided to expand the illuminated area by another 2.5 hectares with Philips GreenPower LED Toplighting Compact Before Hortis Group switched to LED lighting they had no lights in this part of the greenhouse Now this space is used to grow the Vivolia plum tomato Willaert says this was a logical choice: "It makes sense to put premium tomatoes under LED light because of the financial investment such a system requires There is more of a market for specialty tomatoes under LED than there is for beef tomatoes and more uniformWillaert's positive experience with Signify was the deciding factor in choosing Philips GreenPower LED Toplighting Compact in combination with their GrowWise Control System Grow lights with a light level of 260 μmol/m2/s have now been installed and they are estimated to burn for about 3,500 hours per year the flexibility and speed that the system brings to his crops are the main benefits: "The light really makes a difference You can just mimic summer and thus shorten the growing time of the tomatoes We placed the Vivolia plants in the greenhouse on October 10 and we were able to harvest the first tomatoes just two months later That was a positive surprise." But the quality of the crop also benefits Willaert: "LED allows you to grow under cooler conditions compared to traditional HPS lighting so you get plants with a deep green color that glow with health This also creates a particularly tasty and fresh-looking product that is attractive to consumers in stores." Dimming to the desired amount of lightWillaert also felt it was important to be able to dim the LED lights to the desired light intensity Signify's GrowWise Control System provides this capability allowing uniform light levels to be achieved throughout the day (and even throughout an entire growing season) This dimming option also allows growers to slowly awaken the crop by mimicking the rhythm of the sun or use grow lights up to 10% more efficiently Willaert: "Because you use this system in combination with natural light to deliver a constant amount of light to the plants this quickly adds up to 1000 Joules/cm2/day of energy or 15 mol/m2 of daylight you end up with as much as about 2000 Joules/cm2/day A traditional checkerboard distribution of lights would never result in an even light distribution for the crop it is possible to distribute the light evenly over the crop." That since the lamps only need to deliver the intensity the plant needs at that moment in time Climate adjustmentsSwitching to a new lighting system also includes a few challenges we really had to look at what was best in terms of light dimming," Willaert says the first year is a matter of trying out many things." The growing process itself has also changed: "You have to create a narrow opening in the screen through which the moisture can escape in time you actually create a much more humid climate and you then need minimal window positions to allow the moisture to escape from below." Because the climate is more humid Willaert decided to place more bumblebee nests in a future growing season: "The impact of artificial lighting on bumblebee behavior must be looked at more closely anyway," he concludes because you can control crops better and produce them all year round which even without the dimming function requires much less energy than the classic HPS lamps is in line with the goals his company has always had: "We want to be able to provide the consumer with a top product 12 months a year that is produced in an environmentally friendly way and still meets all the requirements Our CHPs were already very important in this regard and the dimmable full LED technology is another big step in the right direction!" FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 HortiDaily.com The authorities in Sint-Gillis-Waas (East Flanders) earlier warned that scammers were trying to identify the local EuroMillions winner A couple was doing the rounds of houses saying they worked for the papers looking for information on the man who won 52 million euros on the EuroMillions lottery recently Locals told the mayor they worked for daily Het Nieuwsblad he heard they were not Het Nieuwsblad reporters Now it has emerged they were genuine reporters Several residents had received visits from the journalists where the winner bought his winning lottery ticket The mayor claimed a man and a woman were posing as journalists and asking people if they know who the winner of the Euromillions jackpot is ‘It’s a woman with long blonde hair and a shorter balding fellow with black hair,’ the mayor earlier told Flemish media ‘They clearly do not appear to be real journalists.’ Identity of the 52-million-euro jackpot winner remains a mystery The winner of the 52 million euro winning ticket bought his Euromillions lottery ticket at a local newsagent’s ‘But we do not know the identity of the winner’ the mayor said The National Lottery has confirmed that it is a fellow from East Flanders but did not release any further details about his identity or place of residence After a call to daily Het Nieuwsblad the mayor even asked residents to be extra vigilant and not to tell strangers who come ringing at the door anything "It is apparently attracting fortune seekers wanting to extort money He ordered the police to deploy several extra patrols Anyone who saw the suspicious duo or is accosted was asked to contact the police immediately but now it appears they were genuine journalists after all There is traffic misery for motorists on the E34 trunk road in East Flanders today An accident involving 3 lorries and a car between Sint-Gillis-Waas and Vrasene has completely blocked the road The westbound carriageway is completely closed and there are long tailbacks The emergency services are distributing water to motorists that are stuck in the traffic jam One person was slightly injured in the crash It is expected that the disruption to traffic on the E34 will continue for several hours yet By midday motorists could expect delays of up to two hours Wreckage from the accident has now been cleared from the road Motorist wishing to travel between Antwerp and Knokke are advised to used the E17 and E40 via Ghent and Bruges Those wishing to travel to Zelzate (East Flanders) are advised to do so via Ghent A man has been arrested in the West Flemish town of Ieper after he was caught spying on a group of Girl Scouts that were camping near to the town The man also allegedly masturbated while one of the girls was visiting the camp toilet The teenage girl immediately told the leaders of her Scouts group The West Flemish Judicial Authorities say that they have opened an investigation The Scouts are from Sint-Gillis-Waas in East Flanders When one of the girls went to the camp toilet on Monday afternoon she noticed that she was being watched by a man she didn’t know The suspected voyeur has since been apprehended After the incident the Scouts decided to return home early The group had originally planned to hold its camp in the Ardennes due to last month’s devastating flooding it was decided to go to Ieper instead