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Greenhouse Technology for Agriculture Under Arid Conditions

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Sustainable Agriculture Reviews

Part of the book series: Sustainable Agriculture Reviews ((SARV,volume 22))

Abstract

Sustainable agricultural development requires a control of environmental conditions. Greenhouse technology, a branch of controlled environment agriculture, has experienced fast growth, mainly due to climate change and the demand of high quality fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers in developed countries. Development of small scale greenhouse facilities that are suited for the southern African agro-climatic conditions is one of the methods that can be adopted to help alleviate food insecurity and malnutrition. In spite of the potential of using greenhouse for income generation, poverty alleviation and prevention of malnutrition, research on greenhouse facilities for crop production in Southern Africa is lacking.

The two common greenhouse configurations available in southern African are the expensive fan-pad evaporatively cooled and the simpler and less expensive side or roof naturally-ventilated structures. The two major technologies, which are commonly used for controlling the greenhouse microclimate, particularly in arid climate, are natural ventilation and fan-pad evaporative cooling, and their effects on crop growth were reviewed in this study. Full or partial control of the internal environment for optimum conditions is achieved through side or roof vents in naturally ventilated facilities. Alternatively, fan-pad evaporative cooling may be used. Although natural ventilation is less costly and energy efficient, it has a limited capacity to reduce the heat load in arid or semi-arid climate regions. Fan-pad evaporative cooling application is limited in sub-humid regions. Comparison of fan-pad against natural ventilation in terms of crop growth and yield give conflicting results and needs further studies. In Southern African regions, fan-pad performs better than natural ventilation while in the tropical and Mediterranean climates, natural ventilation performs better.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01 Scottsville 3209, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

    Ellen Letsogile Thipe, Tilahun Workneh, Alferd Odindo & Mark Laing

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  1. Ellen Letsogile Thipe
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  2. Tilahun Workneh
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  3. Alferd Odindo
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  4. Mark Laing
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Correspondence to Tilahun Workneh .

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  1. CEREGE, INRA, Aix en Provence, France

    Eric Lichtfouse

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Thipe, E.L., Workneh, T., Odindo, A., Laing, M. (2017). Greenhouse Technology for Agriculture Under Arid Conditions. In: Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture Reviews. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48006-0_3

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