Propagating flowers and plants has always been a labour-intensive, yet often highly profitable industry. Due to the shortage of manpower, the industry has scaled up to large operations with a very high degree of automation. The automation and resulting application of conveyor belts not only applies to sorting, packaging and shipping activities; in many cases plants are also grown on long, narrow conveyor belts. The pots in which they are grown sometimes stand directly on a conveyor belt or can be placed in special plastic discs.
The Nitta conveyor belt manufacturing facility is situated near some of the largest horticultural centres in the world. For this reason the engineers at Nitta are highly aware of the specific demands of this industry. Demands such as low stretch in very long conveyors, extreme flatness to allow sideways loading and, depending on the operation, a very high grip or a very low friction on products.
Conveyor belt types which can be used for horticultural applications:
