Does Knitted Shade Provide Temperature Reduction and Increase Yield Kale?

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate whether the air temperature, soil temperature, and luminosity in a low tunnel covered with agricultural mesh screening affected the characteristics of kale production. The study was conducted on the cultivation of kale in six different growing environments. The experimental setup consisted of randomized block design (RBD) with factorial analysis (2 × 6) with four repetitions. The kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) hybrids Hi Crop and Kobe F1 were used as plant material. The growing environments were open field and protected environments consisting of low tunnels, each covered with a different mesh screen: red, thermo-reflective silver, black, tissue-non-tissue (TNT), and organza fabric. Sensors were installed within each environment to monitor air temperature and soil temperature. The TNT screen resulted in the highest air and soil temperatures and lower yield. The black mesh resulted in lower temperatures than other coverings. Organza fabric provided the best yield (22.8%) compared to open field and it was 9.89to42.19 % more productive compared to the other meshes. Organza fabric was the best environment for the cultivation of kale in tropical climates. These data confirm that kale biomass production was greatly affected by stress high temperature.

Entomofauna associated with the cultivation of creeping tomato trees under different shading meshes

“…Agrotextile is made from long polypropylene filaments that are layered and welded, constituting a light material and enough strength for its use in agriculture (Barros Júnior et al, 2004). Organza is a novelty in agricultural use, made of 100% polyester, has a delicate, light, and transparent texture, and recently began to be used as a plant covering (Seabra Júnior et al, 2019). Both materials mentioned above contributed to the smaller amount of insects collected in these environments, as they act as a physical barrier due to the closed mesh.…”

“…Few studies have evaluated the effect of protected environments covered with meshes in the presence of insects in the tomato tree and the use of organza to cover the low tunnels to agricultural cultivation; this was only reported in kale cultivation, which showed promising results (Seabra et al, 2019). However, there are no reports on tomato tree cultivation, so this paper evaluated the protection of the covering mesh in the cultivation of creeping tomato trees under white plastic mulching, an option for managing pest insects.…”

Melon cultivation under agrotextile increases production and reduces phytosanitary products

“…In melon cultivation, due to the need for pollination, which is necessary in most cucurbits, the mesh coverage time must be observed so that there is no interference with fruit setting. In addition, the agrotextile can influence the physicochemical and biochemical aspects of the fruit due to edaphoclimatic changes caused in the growing environment, such as increased temperatures and reduced light (Seabra Júnior et al, 2019). Thus, the objective was to evaluate the influence of agrotextile use on the productive parameters and fruit quality attributes of yellow melon hybrids.…”