ISHS Acta Horticulturae 691: International Conference on Sustainable Greenhouse Systems - Greensys2004
HIGH EFFICIENCY COLUMN CULTURE SYSTEM IN CHINA |
| Authors: | W. Liu, D.K. Chen, Z.X. Liu |
| Keywords: | soilless culture, closed system, profits, sightseeing agriculture |
| Abstract:
More than 50% of the multi-span greenhouses in China are profitless because of relatively high running cost and low output. In order to raise the production efficiency of the multi-span greenhouse and therefore increase the profits of the growers, column culture system was designed and developed by our center. It’s a closed soilless culture system. Each vertical column consisted of several small modular containers placed one on top of the other. Each module had six petal-shaped protuberances in which six plants were placed. At the foot of the columns was a DFT system. The number of plants grown in column culture system was 40-60 plants•m-2 which was 3-4 times as those of normal culture. Light condition, yield, quality and crop species fit for column culture had been studied. Data showed that, light intensity averagely decreased by 15% when falling every tier. Small leafy vegetables or ornamentals were successfully grown in column culture system, especially continuously harvested crops. Experiments of 5 kinds of vegetables indicated that, the yields of column culture increased by 129%-200% compared to those of normal culture. The yield and quality of vegetables of different tiers were significantly different. The calculation of annual cost and profits showed, the cost of column culture increased by 2.2 US dollar•m-2 (including the depreciation of column culture installation), while the profits raised by 3.6-5.5 US dollar•m-2. From 2000 to 2003, column culture system was extended to many multi-span greenhouses in urban and peri-urban areas of China. The system not only increased the output of products, but also greatly interested the tourists for its wonderful view. It displayed the charm of agricultural production and was suitable for sightseeing agriculture. | |
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