OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF TOMATO GROWTH IN GREENHOUSES

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 248: International Symposium on Models for Plant Growth, Environmental Control and Farm Management in Protected Cultivation

OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF TOMATO GROWTH IN GREENHOUSES

Authors:

G. Shina, I. Seginer

Abstract:
Greenhouse tomatoes are grown in Israel with minimum climate control. The question is whether it is justified to introduce heating and CO₂ enrichment, and if so, what should be the management policy. A three-level control has been developed where the top level produces the control policy. This policy is obtained by methods of Optimal Control Theory, combined with heuristic shortcuts.

The main conclusions from this simulation-optimization study are as follows:

Photosynthesis is the main driving force of the production process.
It is justified to pay more for photosynthesis during the reproductive stage of the season.
Ventilation and CO₂ enrichment may be applied simultaneously.
The optimal control policy is not very sensitive to changes in weather and prices.
A potential 20% increase of net profit is suggested, if the proposed method is adopted.

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