Hydroponics And Protected Cultivation

A comprehensive, practical text which covers a diverse range of hydroponic and protected cropping techniques, systems, greenhouse types and environments. It also details the use of indoor plant factories, vertical systems, organic hydroponics and aquaponics. Worldwide hydroponic cropping operations can vary from large, corporate producers running many hectares of greenhouse systems particularly for crops such as tomato, cucumber, capsicum and lettuce, to smaller-scale growers growing fresh produce for local markets.

Protected cultivation - the safeguarding of crops from the harmful effects of climate change, environmentally toxic agricultural chemicals, and crop pests and diseases - is necessary for improving crop growth conditions. This new volume addresses this need by presenting valuable research on the components of protected cultivation, including climate control, modeling, automation, and economics. The volume offers comprehensive coverage of the many aspects of protected crop cultivation, including: selecting site-specific appropriate protected structures design, construction, and suitability of structures improved crop cultivation techniques (shifting from conventional to modern soil-less cultivation approaches) cropping sequence of vegetable crops irrigation and fertigation automation climate monitoring and management insect pests and diseases and their management greenhouse micro-climate/environments economic analysis of protected cultivation and more. The important information presented in this volume will be valuable for farming professionals, faculty and students in agricultural science, agricultural researchers and engineers, as well as for those involved in horticulture and floriculture.

A greenhouse provides an essential means of livelihood to its owner and must be economically practical for the particular climate in which it stands. Greenhouses: Advanced Technology for Protected Horticulture addresses the major environmental factors of light, temperature, water, nutrition, and carbon dioxide, and features extensive discussions of greenhouse types, construction, and climate control. The book highlights technology such as hydroponics, computer control of environments, and advanced mathematical procedures for environmental optimization. Greenhouses: Advanced Technology for Protected Horticulture is the definitive text/reference for the science of greenhouse engineering and management. The author Dr. Joe J. Hanan, Professor Emeritus of Colorado State University, is the recipient of the Society of American Florists' (SAF) 2000 (Millenium) Alex Laurie Award for Research and Education. The Alex Laurie Award is presented annually to an individual who has made broad-scope, long-lasting contributions to the floriculture industry through research or education. The award is named for Alex Laurie, a professor at The Ohio State University, who pioneered work in many areas of floriculture. "Joe is one of the most precise floricultural researchers I have known," said Dr. Gus De Hertogh, Chairman of SAF's Research Committee. "That excellence is reflected in his latest book, Greenhouses, Advanced Technology for Protected Horticulture, which was published in 1998, nine years after his official 'retirement.'"

The book carries 17 s dealing with space saving, maximizing the efficiency of fertigation, mulching, integrated pest, disease and nutrient management (IPDNM) and engineering aspects of structures.Net houses, poly houses, rain shelters, poly tunnels, uses of plastics in horticulture and cold chains for storage and marketing are elaborated. Hydroponics and aeroponics are discussed.

This collection reviews current research on optimising substrates for soilless cultivation and assesses recent advances in technologies, such as fertigation systems and process control. Case studies on a range of horticultural crops feature throughout as a means of depicting examples of practical application.