Taking the most advantage of the weather conditions and making a proposal to improve the operation of greenhouses, as well as reducing their costs, are the goals of the project headed by Dr Enrique Rico García, researcher and coordinator of the Master on Biosystems Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering at the Autonomous University of Queretaro.
Rico Garcia explains that, in some cases, the structure and temperature of high-end greenhouses has proved harmful to the development of certain plants, with temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius; besides representing high costs for growers of over one thousand dollars per square metre.
"High-end greenhouses entail very high costs to people who have devoted themselves to the cultivation of the land; people cannot buy them, therefore, we seek to bring them functional technology at more reasonable prices," he said.
The researcher explained that they are working in two ways: through the study of computer models and with models at a one to ten scale, to be able to determine the ideal conditions for the greenhouses.
"We have adequate climate in many cases, so perhaps what we need is a simple structure that provides protection, such as a mesh, without covering it completely, so that we achieve the two main goals of a greenhouse: climate control and the exclusion of pests. We will create a hybrid greenhouse, with a plastic part and a mesh part, which will allow us to have the advantages of a greenhouse, but without worsening the conditions."
He stressed the need to optimise the structures, since greenhouse production will likely become the most important in the future due to phenomena such as climate change or water scarcity. The first results of the project are expected to be obtained in December.
Source: amqueretaro.com