PROTECTED CULTIVATION AND GREEN TECHNOLOGY

PROTECTED CULTIVATION: After green revolution of 1960’s, demand for quantity and
quality of the food increased to feed burgeoning population. The quality and quantity can be
sustained when the environment for the plant growth is controlled from vagaries of climate like
wind, cold, precipitation, excessive radiation, extreme temperature, insects and diseases. The
need to protect the crops from unfavourable environmental conditions led to the development
of PROTECTED AGRICULTURE. Greenhouse is the most practical method of protected
agriculture. Greenhouse technology is the science of providing favourable environmental
conditions to the plants.

GREEN HOUSE: A Greenhouse is a framed or an inflated structure covered with a transparent

or translucent material. In greenhouse, the environmental parameters are controlled. The
greenhouse is large enough to permit persons to work within it or carry out the cultural
operations.

The basic components of a greenhouse are rafter, end wall, side post, side wall and purlin.
Rafters provide the support to the frame of the greenhouse. They are generally placed on 2, 3,
or 4 foot centers to provide strength.

A – Rafter
B – End wall
C – Side post
D - Side wall
E - Purlin

Rafters may be of the truss type, or curved arch type, depending on the width of the greenhouse.
Purlins are horizontal supports that run from rafter to rafter. These structural components are
usually spaced 4-8 feet apart. Purlins may sometimes be connected by a cross tie. These provide
additional support and may be required in areas where high winds are frequent. Side posts and
columns are vertical supports usually ranging in height from 1-10 feet. These structural
components deter-mine the height of the production area and greatly influence efficiency.
Sidewalls may also be vented to provide cooling and insulation.

The dimensions of the greenhouse are represented in terms of length, width, eave height, foot
center height. Ridge height and roof slope.

ADVANTAGES OF GREENHOUSE:

1. In green houses, there is more productivity per unit area in comparison to open field
conditions.
2. Off-season cultivation of crops is possible round the year.
3. Four to five crops can be grown in a greenhouse due to availability of required plant
environmental conditions.
4. Superior export quality crops can be produced.
5. Early production of quality seedlings and planting materials is possible.
6. Efficient utilization of scarce resources like water, fertilizers, seeds
7. Insect, pest and weed management is easier in greenhouses.
8. Percentage of germination of seeds is high.
9. Greenhouses are suitable for automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning
techniques.
10. Greenhouses can be used to generate substantial income and self-employment avenues for
small and marginal land holdings.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT: The release of pollutants and emission of exhaust gases into the
atmosphere increased the percentage of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide forms a blanket in
the outer atmosphere. This resulted in entrapping of the reflected solar radiation from the
earth’s surface. Due to this, the atmospheric temperature increases. This phenomenon of an
increase in the ambient temperature due to the formation of blanket of cardon dioxide and other
gases is known as Greenhouse effect. The greenhouse covering material acts in a similar way,
as it behaves as transparent to incoming shorter wave radiations and opaque to outgoing long
wave radiations.

The global warming potential (GWP) is the measure of amount of energy the emissions of 1
tonne of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, usually 100-year time horizon, relative
to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide. GWP helps to make comparisons of the global
warming impacts of different gases. The global warming potential is mentioned in Table 1.

Gas Formula GWP over 100 year Atmospheric

time horizon lifetime, years
Carbon dioxide CO2 1 100

Methane CH4 25 12

Chlorofluorocarbon-12 CCl2 F2 10,200 100

Hydrofluorocarbon-23 - 12,400 222

Sulphur hexafluoride SF6 23,500 3200

Nitrogen trifluoride NF3 16,100 500

TYPES OF GREENHOUSES: The greenhouses are classified on the basis of shape, utility,
construction, covering material and cost.

SHAPE:

1. Lean-to-type greenhouse: A lean-to-type greenhouse is placed against the side of a wall or

building. It usually faces South side. The roof of the building is extended with appropriate
greenhouse covering material and the area is properly enclosed. The width varies from 7 to
12 feet. The main advantage lies in its low cost and ability to make best use of sunlight with
minimum requirement of roof supports. However, the height of the wall or building limits
the potential size of the design and temperature control is difficult.

2. Even span greenhouse: The two roofs of the even-span greenhouse are of equal pitch and
width. The cost of even span greenhouse is more than the cost of lean-to-type greenhouse
but it has greater flexibility in design and provision for more plants. It has better air
 circulation to maintain uniform temperature. The span length varies from 5-9 m with 24 m
length and height of 2.5-4.3 metres in single span greenhouse.

3. Uneven span greenhouse: This type of greenhouse is suitable for hilly terrain. The roofs
are of unequal length, makes the structure adaptable to the side slopes of the hill. However,
the mechanization and automation are difficult in these types of greenhouses.

4. Ridge and furrow type greenhouse: It uses two or more A- frames connected to one
another along the length of the eave. The eave serves as the furrow or gutter to carry
rainwater and melted snow. Usually, the side walls are removed to make a single large
interior structure. It results in reduced labour, low cost of automation, improves personal
management and reduces fuel consumption as there is less wall area through which heat
escapes.
5. Saw tooth type: It is similar to ridge and furrow type greenhouse with an exception that
there is a separate provision for natural ventilation. The specific natural ventilation flow
path develops a saw-tooth type pattern.

6. Quonset greenhouse: In this greenhouse, the pipe arches or trusses are supported by pipe
purling running along the length. Normally, polyethylene is used as a covering material.
They are less expensive than gutter connected greenhouses. It can be free, standing type or
interlocking ridge and furrow. In the interlocking type, truss members overlap to create a
large cultural space. It is easy to start automation and improve movement of labour.
UTILITY:

1. Active Cooling: During the cold season and at night time, air temperature inside
greenhouse decreases. In order to protect the crops from cold bite due to freezing, some
amount of heat has to be supplied. The quantity of heat depends on the rate at which
the heat is lost to the outside environment. Various methods include double layer
polyethylene, thermo pane glasses (Two layers of factory sealed glass with dead air
space) or heating systems like heaters, central heat, radiant heat and solar heating
system.
2. Passive heating: During summer season, it is essential to reduce the temperatures of
greenhouse to a level appropriate for effective crop growth. Therefore, a number of
modifications are incorporated to ensure the movement of cold air into the greenhouse.
The techniques may be fan based evaporative cooling or fog cooling. This greenhouse
is designed in such a way that it permits a roof opening of 40% to 100%.

CONSTRUCTION:
1. Wooden framed: The greenhouses with a total span of less than 6m uses wooden
framed structure. In this case, side posts and columns are constructed from wood
without the use of a truss. Pine wood is commonly prioritized due to its strength and
economic character. However, timber is also used as it is locally available, possessing
good strength, durability and machinability.
2. Pipe framed: Pipes are used for construction of greenhouses with a total span of around
12 m. In general, the side posts, columns, cross ties and purlins are fabricated with the
help of pipes. However, in this type, trusses are not used.
3. Truss framed: In greenhouses with total span of greater than or equal to 15 m, truss
frames are used. Flat steel, tubular steel or angular iron is welded together to form a
truss encompassing rafters, chords and struts. Struts are support members under
compression and chords are support members under tension. Columns are used only in
very wide truss frame houses of span 21.3 m or higher. Currently, most of the glass
houses are of truss frame type as they are easy to fabricate and maintain.
COVERING MATERIAL:
1. Glass greenhouse: Glass is commonly used as the covering material for the
greenhouses. It results in penetration of higher light intensity, air infiltration rate,
thereby, lowering humidity and ensures better disease prevention. Lean-to type, even
span, ridge and furrow type designs are used for construction of glass greenhouse.

2. Plastic film greenhouse: Plastic is prioritised over glass as they are cheap and
economical. Flexible plastic films like polyethylene, polyester and polyvinyl chloride
are used as covering material in this type of greenhouses. The main limitation is short
life of plastics like the best quality ultraviolet (UV) stabilized film can last for four years
only. Quonset design is suitable design for covering with plastic film.
 3. Rigid panel greenhouse: Polyvinyl chloride rigid panels, fibre glass-reinforced plastic,
acrylic and polycarbonate rigid panels are employed as the covering material in the
quonset type frames or ridge and furrow type frame. This material is more resistant to
breakage and the light intensity is uniform throughout the greenhouse. Also, High grade
panels have long life of more than 20 years. The main disadvantage is that these panels
tend to collect dust and harbour algae, which results in darkening of the panels and
subsequent reduction in the light transmission. Also, there is significant danger of fire
hazard.

COST:

1. Low-cost greenhouse: It is usually made from locally available materials like wooden logs
and bamboos. They are small in size and possess short life span. Since the height of the
structure is lesser in comparison to those with steel frames, maintaining proper temperatures
 in summer becomes difficult. Also, the protection of the wooden structure from insects and
termites is a major challenge. Therefore, they are usually recommended for cold climatic
zones with low wind speed regions. The approximate cost is Rs. 420-620 per square meter.
2. Medium cost greenhouse: It is generally made from galvanised iron (GI) square or
rectangular or round pipes. The whole structure is firmly fixed on the ground and can
withstand wind speed upto 140 kmph. The height varies from 6.5-7 m and are mostly
naturally ventilated. The humidity is controlled by foggers/misters. Light intensity is
maintained by the use internal collapsible shading nets. The approximate cost of naturally
ventilated polyhouse ranges from Rs. 900-1000 per square meter.
3. High cost greenhouse: The high cost greenhouse precisely regulate the climatic and
nutritional requirements of plants to produce sensitive, off-season, exotic and quality crops.
The climatic parameters are regulated through passive cooling by operating fan, pad systems
and sensor based controlled systems. The approximate cost ranges from Rs. 1500-2500 per
square meter depending upon the size of the structure.

GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS: The bureau of Indian standards (BIS)

has formulated three standards with respect to greenhouse technology.

1. IS 14462: 1997: It deals with layout, design and construction of greenhouse structures.

2. IS 14485: 1998: It is concerned with heating, ventilation and cooling of greenhouse

3. IS 15827: 2009: It convers Plastic films for greenhouses