Innovations in Crop Production: A Matter of Physiology and Technology

Summary Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by providing non‐fossil fuel energy sources is imminently necessary. The area of particular interest in this paper is the agricultural greenhouse industry. In these structures, significant heating demands are present, especially in cold climates, and are typically met by combusting fossil fuels. In an effort towards a sustainable energy supply, the potential of closed greenhouse systems in a cold climate is explored. In these systems, natural ventilation for cooling and dehumidification is replaced with active systems, and the thermal energy removed can be re‐used, reducing the overall heating demand. A transient greenhouse model is created using TRNSYS software and validated with natural gas usage data from a reference greenhouse. The annual heating and cooling demands, effect of varying cover materials and potential for heat recovery ventilation are explored for the most concentrated greenhouse areas in Canada. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…An SER of three for a closed greenhouse has been reported in other studies [11,14]. This is in agreement with the results of this study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Assessing heating and cooling demands of closed greenhouse systems in a cold climate

Semple

Carriveau

Ting

2017

Int. J. Energy Res.

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“…Secondly, severe leaf curling occurred nearby the LEDs in this study, which may have strongly limited canopy light interception (Trouwborst et al, 2010). Such phenomena probably occurred due to the integrating effect of improper positioning of LED lamps, light spectra, as well as the microclimate in the canopy (Marcelis et al, 2014). Dry matter partitioning of fruits under supplementary artificial light was higher than that of the control (Table 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Effects of Supplementary Artificial Light on Growth of the Tomato (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i>) in a Chinese Solar Greenhouse

Yan

Zhang

et al. 2018

The Hortic J

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Light is one of the most limiting factors affecting plant growth in greenhouses. Recently, supplementary artificial light has been widely used in greenhouse production in winter or on overcast days when solar radiation is weak. However, plant responses to supplementary artificial light in a Chinese Solar Greenhouse (CSG) and the economic feasibility of the lighting strategy are poorly understood. The tomato, one of the most widely produced and consumed vegetables in the world, was tested in this study. A CSG was divided into three sections, and three treatments were arranged. They were top lighting with HPS lamps (TL), TL plus interlighting with LEDs (TL+IL), and control treatment without artificial light, respectively. We showed that supplementary artificial light improved the uniformity of light distribution from the south to north end of the CSG, and increased the average greenhouse temperature by ~1-1.4°C. Tomato yield was increased by 21.8% and 32.9% in TL and TL+IL, respectively, compared with that of the control. The higher yield under supplementary artificial light resulted from a larger number of ripe fruits rather than bigger fruit size. Moreover, fruit quality was improved by supplementary artificial light as indicated by a higher total soluble sugar content. There were no significant differences in total biomass production or total soluble sugar content in leaves, as well as fruits, between TL and TL+IL treatments, but TL+IL further stimulated fruit maturation compared with TL. Although supplementary artificial light confers an advantage in terms of tomato growth, it is not economically feasible as 28.8 kWh electricity was required to increase the tomato yield by 1 kg in the CSG. Therefore, it is important to find solutions to increase the efficiency of supplementary artificial light in the CSG.

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“…Therefore, the problem of discoloring of leaves or necrosis in shade-tolerant pot plants under relatively high light could be less when cultivated under diffuse light condition ( Li et al, 2014b ). Studies have suggested that increasing daily light integral under diffuse light not only accelerates plant growth but also improves plant ornamental quality with more compact plants ( Li et al, 2014b ; Marcelis et al, 2014 ). This may substantially contribute to the improvement of horticultural production.…”

Section: Allowing More Light Via Diffuse Cover Materials Stimulates Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advantages of diffuse light for horticultural production and perspectives for further research

Yang

2015

Front. Plant Sci.

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Plants use diffuse light more efficiently than direct light, which is well established due to diffuse light penetrates deeper into the canopy and photosynthetic rate of a single leaf shows a non-linear response to the light flux density. Diffuse light also results in a more even horizontal and temporal light distribution in the canopy, which plays substantial role for crop photosynthesis enhancement as well as production improvement. Here we show some of the recent findings about the effect of diffuse light on light distribution over the canopy and its direct and indirect effects on crop photosynthesis and plant growth, and suggest some perspectives for further research which could strengthen the scientific understanding of diffuse light modulate plant processes and its application in horticultural production.

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Innovations in Crop Production: A Matter of Physiology and Technology

Cited by 24 publications

References 0 publications

Assessing heating and cooling demands of closed greenhouse systems in a cold climate

Assessing heating and cooling demands of closed greenhouse systems in a cold climate

Effects of Supplementary Artificial Light on Growth of the Tomato (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i>) in a Chinese Solar Greenhouse

Advantages of diffuse light for horticultural production and perspectives for further research

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