Protected Cultivation: Structural Design, Crop Management Modeling, and Automation

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.