Development of GROWOR, an innovative technology for growing tomatoes in a controlled environment

Omna, UAB, is implementing the project "Development of GROWOR, an innovative technology for growing tomatoes in a controlled environment" Nr. 02-020-K-0056. The total value of the project is EUR 1 891 934,38, of which EUR 1 313 494,53 is from the European Regional Development Fund.

The project is implemented in accordance with the Contract, the Development Programme Progress Measure No 05-001-01-05-07 "Establishing a coherent system for stimulating innovative activities", the activity "Stimulating the supply of innovations", the impact of the activity "Investing in activities for the development of new R & D products and creating conditions for the researchers to participate in the R & D activities of enterprises, stimulating the intellectual property, the early pilot production of the new products developed, the preparation for the market" (the region of Central and Western Lithuania), the description of the project financing conditions, approved by the Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania in the period of 2023. 4-368 of 7 July, the Rules on Project Administration and Financing approved by Order No 1K-237 of 22 June 2022 of the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania "On the implementation of the European Union Funds Investment Programme 2021-2027 and the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan "New Generation Lithuania" and the conditions and procedures set out in the EU and Lithuanian legal acts referred to therein.

OMNA is a specialised company focusing on investment projects, IT technology implementation, international trade and investment programmes. With a team of highly qualified specialists, we focus on the implementation of artificial intelligence in vegetable, fruit and other crop production technologies. In the long term, we plan to become a leading provider of solutions for growing vegetables in a controlled environment, with the aim of solving food supply problems and introducing innovative agrotechnical solutions in the Lithuanian and European markets.

The project will use the accumulated knowledge and collaboration with a scientific institution to develop a Smart Tomato Technology in a controlled environment and bring to the market a fully automated, standardised, yet easily scalable and modifiable tomato production module, where smart environmental management and process cycling are crucial to produce abundant and high quality crops. In this module, vegetables are grown in a controlled indoor environment in vertical beds aeroponically, with artificial intelligence optimising lighting, microclimate and plant nutrition. This method allows the production of at least 8 cycles of tomatoes per year and the production of between 300 and 500 kg/m2 of quality organic produce. The plan is to bring to the market an environmentally friendly, technologically novel solution with a particularly high area efficiency and competitive production costs, allowing fresh vegetables to be grown all year round. The users of the solution (customers) are farmers, vegetable growers, entrepreneurs growing and supplying fresh vegetables to Lithuanian and European cities and seeking to modernise their business.

The project partner is the Academy of Agriculture of Vytautas Magnus University, whose priority areas of scientific development are sustainable development of bioeconomy, biological potential of plants and animals and agro-biotechnologies, quality food supply, bio-based feedstocks for industry, mitigation and adaptation of the impact of climate change on ecosystems, sustainable agriculture, forestry and water management technologies, and sustainable use of resources. The project partner will complement the project with scientific expertise and agro-technical competences and provide infrastructure for the development of the project.

The project is in line with the objectives of the European strategic documents, which focus on food safety and quality and the preservation of sustainable agro-biological resources, and contributes directly to the development of sustainable agriculture as an efficient way to produce abundant harvests with minimal use of land, water and energy resources. The project promotes the development of advanced technologies and services for agriculture, cooperation between business and science and the commercialisation of research results.

Project implementation period 8 July 2024 - 8 July 2026.

Enquiries relating to the project can be addressed to info@omna.lt