ISHS Acta Horticulturae 476: International Symposium on Applications of Modelling as InnovativeTechnique in the Agri-Food Chain. MODEL-IT
OPTIMAL SPACING OF A VEGETATIVE GREENHOUSE CROP |
| Authors: | I. Seginer, I. Ioslovich |
| Keywords: | Plant factory, plant spacing, cultivation intensity, supplementary light |
| Abstract:
The design of an industrial crop production line involves finding the required area for a desired production rate. For any given crop, the required area depends on the chosen intensity of cultivation, expressed in terms of expenditure on capital, energy and other resources. The optimal intensity of cultivation depends on the prevailing climatic and economic environments. A single-state-variable vegetative crop model was used to derive the main features of the environmental-design for a quota-limited crop-growing operation. The main conclusions are: (1) Young and old plants can grow together in a single climatic compartment. (2) Spacing should be scheduled to maintain a constant canopy density. (3) Optimal canopy density is an asymptotically increasing function of available light and a decreasing function of temperature. (4) The marginal price to be paid for supplementary light decreases with available natural light. | |
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