At the cucumber greenhouse in Bashkortostan, every day begins with picking fresh crops, then plants are taken care of in order to prevent diseases and pest contamination. Ms. Ekaterina Silantyeva has been working in the complex for four years now. She says it is the quietest place she has ever worked in.
In order to minimize human involvement, individual plant irrigation is used in the greenhouse. It is a closed system, after filtration excess water is returned back to the reservoirs.
“There are mineral substances dissolved in water in the containers and they are delivered to each plant with the help of the drip irrigation system”, says Mr. Ayrat Nazmutdinov, the chief agronomist of the complex.
The optimal temperature for the cucumbers is 22-23 degrees Celsius and for lettuce it’s a bit lower, 19-20 degrees. Humidity and temperature levels are controlled automatically.
“We have automated heating and shutters preventing plants from freezing in winter time and burning from sunlight in summer”, says Mr. Elver Valitov, chief engineer of the project.
The complex covers an overall acreage of 9 ha, and the expected productivity is 10 thousand tons. Crops can be picked 3-4 times a year.
At the moment the dressing rooms and showers are being equipped for the associates. It is planned to construct one more complex where tomatoes, eggplants and bell peppers could be grown. One can say for sure now that in the coming year the residents of the republic will have enough fresh cucumbers.
Source: gtrk.tv