IMPROVED PLANT MANAGEMENT WITH LOCALISED CROP HEATING AND ADVICE ON DISTANCE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE

The goal setting for consultancy in horticulture is based upon the analysis of data from the similar previous crop.
The data mining is done upon climate, substrate and crop information.
In co-ordination with the grower, the general goals of the crop are defined and further translated into objectives for the crop steering parameters.
The localised crop heating uses water with a temperature between 20 and 50°C. In the Mediterranean climate, most often 6 polymer tubes per two plant lines heat the crop.
The localised crop heating has a better equilibrium radiation /convection than a pipe rail or an air heating system.
In professional greenhouses the economy of the crop heating system is 60% higher than the air heating system.
In intensive heated greenhouses the air temperature should be between 1 to 1.7°C lower with localised crop heating than with pipe rail system to obtain the same plant response.
The visualisation and advive on distance is realised by using modern techniques of process control: goal settings, maximal deviations, modelling and digital photography.
The tomato crop is visualised by two values, firstly the power being the expression of the stem diameter and, secondly, the balance between vegetative and generative defined by measuring the distance between the flowering truss and the head of the plant.

VI International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climate: Product and Process Innovation

P. Stradiot, P. Battistel

crop registration, consultancy, Lycopersicon esculentum L., growth model, plant balance

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2003.614.69