Articles
ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON GROWTH OF ORNAMENTAL PLANTS.
The EEC aware of the important role played by the mediterranean area in the horticultural and ornamental plant production has started a special program within AGRIMED (CEE AGRIMED Meetings: Protected cultivation in Murcia, Barcelona (Spain), Punchal- Madeira (Portugal)). In our Department of Plant Physiology research is being done on the influence of environmental factors and physiological characteristics on the production of cultivated plants.
The aim of this research is to widen scientific bases which will allow for an increase in production and quality.
With the basic data of the interaction plant vs. environmental factors strategies can be elaborated to rationally modify limiting factors within economics margins.
This line of work has been possible due to the long history of research in microclimate and gaseous exchange in this Department.
This tradition can be expressed as:
- The existence of highly trained personal in the use of measurement techniques and statistical treatment of climatic and physiological parameters.
- Available instruments/technology for both the measurement, storage and processing of this data.
Owing to the multiple correlations between the microclimate regimes and the many physiological responses, the work of a co-ordinated interdisciplinary team is vital in the study of the different aspects of the problem at an anatomical morphological, physiological and genetic level.
Without this joint effort it is impossible to explain the behavior of the plant (AGRIMED Meeting in Barcelona).
Research of this depth also requires the availability of sufficient funds so that over a long period of time data can be accumulated which will allow for a better understanding of the functioning of the plant.
The protected cultivation of plants is concentrated along the length of the Mediterranean litoral in the zones with the best microclimates, avoiding the extreme cold or freezing of winter.
Future expansion will be limited by the poor quality or lack of water.