AI6001 PROTECTED CULTIVATION

LTPC
3003

OBJECTIVES
To impact knowledge on the protected cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flower crops.
To sensitize the students on hi-tech production technology of fruits, vegetables and flower crops.

UNIT I PROTECTED CULTIVATION AND ITS TYPES 9

Importance and methods of protected culture in horticultural crops - Importance and scope of
protected cultivation – different growing structures of protected culture viz., green house, poly
house, net house, poly tunnels, screen house, protected nursery house - study of environmental
factors influencing green house production – cladding / glazing / covering material – ventilation
systems – cultivation systems including nutrient film technique / hydroponics / aeroponic culture
– growing media and nutrients – canopy management – micro irrigation and fertigation systems.

UNIT II PROTECTED CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLE CROPS 9

Protected cultivation technology for vegetable crops - Hi-tech protected cultivation techniques
for tomato, capsicum nursery, cucumber, gherkins strawberry and melons – integrated pest and
disease management – post harvest handling.

UNIT III PROTECTED CULTIVATION OF FLOWER CROPS 9

Protected cultivation technology for flower crops - Hi-tech protected cultivation of cut roses, cut
chrysanthemum, carnation, gerbera, asiatic lilies, anthurium, orchids, cut foliages and fillers –
integrated pest and disease management – postharvest handling.

UNIT IV PRECISION FARMING TECHNIQUES 9

Concept and introduction of precision horticulture – Importance, definition, principles and

concepts – Role of GIS and GPS - Mobile mapping system and its application in precision
farming – design, layout and installation of drip and fertigation in horticultural crops - role of
computers in developing comprehensive systems needed in site specific management (SSM) –
georeferencing and photometric correction – Sensors for information gathering – geostatistics –
robotics in horticulture - postharvest process management (PPM) – remote sensing - information
and data management and crop growth models – GIS based modeling.

UNIT V PRECISION FARMING OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS 9

Precision farming techniques for horticultural crops - Precision farming techniques for tomato,
chilli, bhendi, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, cauliflower, cabbage, grapes, banana, rose, jasmine,
chrysanthemum, marigold, tuberose, china aster, turmeric, coriander, coleus and gloriosa.
PROTECTED CULTIVATION

Protected cultivation is the technique of providing favorable environmental or growth conditions

to the plants. In greenhouses, the growing environment is altered to suit the specific requirements
of plants. It is rather used to protect plants from the adverse climatic conditions by providing
optimum conditions of light, temperature, humidity, CO2 and air circulation for the best growth
of plants to achieve maximum yield and best quality.

A greenhouse is a covered structure which protects plants from bad effects of weather or
environment i.e. wind, precipitation, excess solar radiation, temperature extremes and
considerable attack of pests and diseases.

The greenhouse is covered with a transparent material such as plastic, pvc sheet or glass. Based
upon its transparency the greenhouse cover transmits most of the sunlight. The crop, floor and
other objects inside the greenhouse absorb the sunlight admitted inside the greenhouse. These
objects in turn emit long wave thermal radiations for which the greenhouse covering material has
lower transparency and as a result of this the solar energy is trapped thus leading to increased
temperature inside the greenhouse. This is known as greenhouse effect.

Root Media under a Green house:

There are several production systems currently being utilized worldwide by commercial
greenhouse vegetable producers. These include planting directly in the soil within the green
house, using containers with soil less mixtures, Nutrient Film Technology (NFT), rockwool
production or production in perlite.
A. Soil system or ground culture or geoponics:
Ground culture of greenhouse vegetable crops involves growing crop directly in
the natural soil under the greenhouse cover. It is the easiest way to start greenhouse
vegetable production. Plants are oriented in double rows, drip emitters are placed at the
base of the plant to provide water and nutrients to the plant.
Fumigation or soil solarization is done to minimize diseases, insects and weed
present in the soil. Soil fertility should be determined and managed with soil testing. The
soil pH should be adjusted to 6.0- 6.5. Mulching should be done to control weeds, retain
soil moisture and prevent soil compaction.

Disadvantages:
Presence of disease, insect and weeds in the soil.
 Excessive nutrient level could leach into local ground water table or
accumulate in the soil surface
B. Soilless culture:
Growing of vegetables in the media other than soil is called soil-less
culture. Generally, field soils are unsatisfactory for the production of plants in the
containers because they do not provide proper aeration, drainage and water
holding capacity required by the plants. Therefore, to improve these conditions
several soil less growing media have been developed and utilized in vegetable
production. Due to relatively shallow depth and limited volume of the container,
growing media must be amended to provide the appropriate physical and
chemical properties necessary for plant growth.
The containers of various shapes and sizes with drainage holes are
required for soil-less culture. Media are mostly peat based and include various
blends of peat with perlite, vermiculite, sawdust, rockwool or other mixtures. The
containers are filled with desired sterile mix and placed in the greenhouse.
Transplants are produced in a soil-less mix, such as peat/vermiculite or rockwool
and transplanted into the containers. The soil-less mix usually contains some
fertilizer to start the plants. Containers are irrigated and fertilized through a drip
irrigation system in which a polyethylene pipe delivers water and fertilizers down
the double row of containers and each container is irrigated from an emitter.
Advantages:
The culture ensures easy handling,
Sterilization of new media is unnecessary,
Soil-less culture media is free from pathogens and
nematodes. It provides good aeration and drainage.
Nutrient control through soilless media is possible

C. Hydroponics
The system of growing plant in nutrient solution is known as hydro-phonics or
water culture. Hydro-phonics is an art and science of growing plants without soil by
feeding them with chemical solution and hence also called chemical gardening. The
 solution used in culture contains all essential elements in proper proportions needed for
normal growth of plants.
Hydroponics is based on the theory that all the factors of plant growth naturally
supplied by the soil can be coordinated artificially by the use of water and chemicals into
a crop production method capable of competing with agriculture. Basically, there is no
change in the fundamental principles of crops growing in hydroponic. In general course,
the nutrients are supplied to the roots through soil media, whereas, in hydroponic the
method of supplying the nutrient is changed. In this all the nutrients needed by the plant
are supplied as per requirement at suitable material while growing in suitable container.

Advantages:
i) Provide a controlled chemical composition of nutrient solution.
ii) There are no soil colloids present to immobilize any of the nutrients
through adsorption.
iii) The frequent replacement of culture solution prevents the accumulation of
toxic organic decomposition products.
iv) The growth of bacteria and fungi is minimized which may otherwise cause
diseases.
v) Free from soil borne diseases and weeds.
vi) This system can assume high yield with good quality produce.
vii) It allows the culture of greenhouse vegetables in areas where soils are not
suitable for vegetable production.

i) This high-tech system calls for a higher investment compared to other

commercial methods of cultivation.
ii) It requires huge investment and some basic knowledge of chemistry, plant
physiology and crop botany has deterred many from adopting this
technology.
iii) Slight mistake in calculating exact requirement of fertilizers may end up
with deficiencies or toxicities in the crop.
Type of Hydrophonics:
i) Solution culture:
 The plants are raised in pure nutrient medium containing only the desired
elements. The pyre or any hard vessels are used as containers and for plant
support special engineered structures are required. To protect the roots from direct
light and to check algae growth in the nutrient solution, the containers are covered
on their outer surface with black paper. The aeration for the roots is provided with
the help of vacuum lines which continuously keep on providing fresh filtered air
to the nutrient solution. In case of any change due to absorption of nutrient by
plants occasional pH adjustments are also done and nutrient solutions are
frequently changed. There are several culture media available but Knop’s , Sach’s
and Hoagland’s media is commonly used.

ii) Rockwool culture:

Rockwool is an inert, porous, sterile growing medium made from rocks that are
heated at high temperature and made into thin fibres. The resulting fibers can be
turned into slabs or bags as a loose rockwool for bag culture. Slabs are packaged
in white or white on black polyethylene sleeves. Slabs are laid in two rows and
irrigated by micro irrigation with one emitter per plant. In most systems, water is
mixed with fertilizer to make stock solution of 1: 100 ratia before it is applied to
the slabs. The rockwool slabs can be reused for up to three seasons.
Rockwool culture has many advantages viz., case of handling, installation and
media removal, high water holding capacity, more precise control of nutrients and
good air circulation. The major disadvantage of rockwool is the need for leachate
collection system and the need to replace the media every two to three seasons.
iii) Nutrient film technique (NFT):
It is type of water culture system in which the bare roots are continuously
bathed in a flowing nutrient solution. True NFT consists of growing plants
in a shallow plastic lined trough in which nutrient is flowed continuously.
Roots spread out over the width of 12 inch channel and are continuously
bathed in a thin film of flowing oxygenated nutrient solution. Channels are
on a slope to allow the nutrient solution to flow from one end of the
channel to the other and collected for return to the sump tank. Nutrients
 solution is pumped continuously from the sump tank back to the channels.
Nutrients are added to the solution as needed and the solution may be
replaced periodically to reduce the buildup of salts and disease organisms.
In NFT system, channels and plants are arranged in the greenhouse similar
to rock wool culture. It is expensive to install and high degree of
management and experts to operate the system to ensure correct irrigation
and fertigation.
D. Aero phonics:
It involves the growing of plants in a trough or container in which the roots are
suspended and sprayed with a nutrient mist. The rooted plants are placed in
special type of box with computer controlled humid atmosphere. It is a relatively
new production system used especially for research purposes.

Need for green house cultivation :

Ensures the production of any plant at any place and throughout the year
Blemish-free high quality product
Easy to control insect-pests and diseases
Water requirement reduces
Labour requirement is less
Earliness as it reduces crop duration.

Basic considerations in green house cultivation :

Feasibility study
Type of greenhouse structures
Planting material
Growing system
Plant protection
Post harvest handling
Supporting facilities for analyzing quality of water and growing media
Management and coordination.

Factors affecting green house construction :

Location
Climate
Design of greenhouse
Greenhouse orientation
Crops to be grown
Cost of production
Economic returns.

Growing conditions :

Temperature (Cooling, heating and shading)

Relative humidity (Misting, fogging and watering)
Light (Photoperiod and intensity)
Air circulation (ventilation)
Carbon dioxide
Sanitation.

Characteristics of growing media :

Provide adequate nutrients to the crop

Support or anchorage the plants grown
Good moisture holding capacity
Sufficiently porous
Not saline
Withstand pasteurization with steam or solarization
Free from weed seeds, nematodes.

Disinfection of growing media :

Chemical drenching/ fumigation: formaldehyde, chloropicrin, captan and vapam

Steaming
Pasteurization
Solarization.

Irrigation :

In greenhouses mostly micro-irrigation technique is followed, which requires pressure and

energy to work properly.
The different ways to irrigate in greenhouses are given below:
Drip irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation
Jet irrigation, and
Spray irrigation.

Advantages of miro-irrigation :

Saving water upto 75%

Increasing flower yield
Saving fertilizers upto 30%
Suitable for undulating terrains
Improves quality of the flower produce
Saving energy and labour.

Fertigation :

It refers to the simultaneous application of water and fertilizers to the root zone of the plants and
it refers only to the drip irrigation system under the micro-irrigation technology.

Important ornamental crops :

Cut flowers (Rose, Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Gerbera, Anthurium, Orchids, Tulip, Lilium,
Alstroemeria, Gypsophila, Licianthus, Statice, etc.)

Cut greens (Asparagus, Ferns, etc.)

Foliage pot plants (Aglaonema, Aspidistra, Dracaena, Ficus, Hedera, etc.)

Flowering pot plants (Poinsettia, Begonia, Saintpaulia, Gloxinia, Geranium, Fuchsia, etc.)