Looks at protected cultivation techniques to safeguard crop plants from the harmful effects of climate change, toxic chemicals, and crop pests and diseases. Covers structure design, crop cultivation techniques, irrigation and fertigation, insect pests and diseases management, economic analysis, greenhouse micro-climate/environment, etc.
Protected cultivation - the safeguarding of crops from the harmful effects of climate change, environmentally toxic agricultural chemicals, and crop pests and diseases - is necessary for improving crop growth conditions. This new volume addresses this need by presenting valuable research on the components of protected cultivation, including climate control, modeling, automation, and economics.
The volume offers comprehensive coverage of the many aspects of protected crop cultivation, including:
- selecting site-specific appropriate protected structures
- design, construction, and suitability of structures
- improved crop cultivation techniques (shifting from conventional to modern soil-less cultivation approaches)
- cropping sequence of vegetable crops
- irrigation and fertigation automation
- climate monitoring and management
- insect pests and diseases and their management
- greenhouse micro-climate/environments
- economic analysis of protected cultivation
- and more.
The important information presented in this volume will be valuable for farming professionals, faculty and students in agricultural science, agricultural researchers and engineers, as well as for those involved in horticulture and floriculture.
1. Protected Cultivation: Technology, Constraints, and Its Global Status
2. Classification and Suitability of Protected Structures
3. Design and
Construction of Greenhouse Structures
4. Soilless Cultivation Techniques in
Protected Structures
5. Greenhouse Utilization for Vegetable Cultivation
6.
Effect of Greenhouse Microclimate on Crop Performance
7. Irrigation and
Fertigation Systems for Protected Cultivation
8. Recent Advances in
Management of Diseases and Pests of Common Occurrence under Protected
Cultivation
9. Insect-Pests and Diseases in Greenhouse Cultivation and Their
Biological Control
10. Conventional and Recent Approaches of Integrated Pest
Management in Greenhouse Cultivation
11. Geometric and Aerodynamic
Characterization of Insect-Proof Screens Used in Greenhouses: Aerodynamic
Models
12. Ventilation Models in Greenhouses
13. Greenhouse Climate Control
for Flower Regulation in Ornamental Crops
14. Smart Farming Technologies for
Protected Cultivation
15. Economic Feasibility, Status, and Future Prospects
of Protected Cultivation
Mahesh Chand Singh, PhD, is a Scientist in the Department of Soil and Water Engineering at the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology of Punjab Agricultural University, India, where he is actively engaged in teaching. He has made significant contributions to the fields of irrigation and drainage systems, remote sensing and GIS applications and protected cultivation. He has over 70 research papers published in international journals along with book chapters, popular articles, and one practical manual. He has held positions at various institutions, including Mata Gujri College, India; Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, India; ICAR-National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF); the Agricultural Science Recruitment Board (ASRB), India; and the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines. Dr Singh has developed several mathematical models for predicting greenhouse microclimate under soilless cropped conditions.
K. K. Sharma, PhD, is a Plant Pathologist at the Dr. D.R. Bhumbla Regional Research Station of Punjab Agricultural University, India. Previously, he was an assistant professor at the Doon P.G. College of Agricultural Science and Technology, India. He has published research papers in national and international journals, practical e-manuals, book chapters, and popular articles. In addition to teaching and research, he is also engaged in various agriculture extension activities, such as agro-advisory services and transfer of technology through farmers training programs, and field days. He is a reviewer and editorial board member for several journals in his field.
