Effects of a near infrared-reflecting greenhouse roof cover on the microclimate and production of tomato in the tropics

The effects of a shading paint containing NIR-reflecting pigments applied to the roof of an experimental greenhouse on greenhouse microclimate, plant response of a tomato crop and fruit yield and quality were studied under the tropical climate conditions of Central Thailand. One experiment was carried out in the rainy (2006) season and in the dry (2005/2006) season.The maximal reduction of the air temperatures inside the greenhouse with the NIR reflecting roof paint was observed during the dry season. At this time the temperature in this house was 2.8 °C lower than in the control greenhouse without shading paint. On average the temperature reduction was 2 °C in the dry and 0.6 °C in the rainy season. The magnitude of the temperature reduction was influenced by the time of application in relation to stage of plant growth. Cumulative water consumption between the 4th and 17th week after transplanting was reduced by 8.8 % and 6.2 % during the dry and rainyseason, respectively. However, this did not significantly influence overall water use efficiency. Reduction in the transmission of the photosynthetic active radiation did not significantly influence yield. Shading had only negligibly small influence on plant height, number of trusses, leaf area index and dry matter partitioning

The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2

The Eurasian (née European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60 % from 4826 to 8134. Much of the improvement in data coverage has come from northern Asia, and the database has consequently been renamed the Eurasian Modern Pollen Database to reflect this geographical enlargement. The EMPD can be viewed online using a dedicated map-based viewer at https://empd2.github.io and downloaded in a variety of file formats at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909130 (Chevalier et al., 2019)Swiss National Science Foundation | Ref. 200021_16959

The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2

The Eurasian (nee European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60% from 4826 to 8134. Much of the improvement in data coverage has come from northern Asia, and the database has consequently been renamed the Eurasian Modern Pollen Database to reflect this geographical enlargement. The EMPD can be viewed online using a dedicated map-based viewer at https://empd2.github.io and downloaded in a variety of file formats at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909130 (Chevalier et al., 2019).Peer reviewe

Suitability of a UV Lamp for Trapping the Greenhouse Whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Hom: Aleyrodidae)

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 7 (2005): Suitability of a UV Lamp for Trapping the Greenhouse Whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Hom: Aleyrodidae) by Urbanus N. Mutwiwa and Hans J. Tanta

Effect of Screen Porosity on Selected Microclimatic Parameters of Naturally Ventilated Tropical Greenhouses

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 7 (2005): Effect of Screen Porosity on Selected Microclimatic Parameters of Naturally Ventilated Tropical Greenhouses by Peeyush Soni , Vilas M. Salokhe, H. J. Tanta

Energy saving potential of greenhouse climate control

As energy costs are one of the main production costs many efforts were made to reduce the energy consumption of greenhouses. One possibility is the development of new control strategies (c.g. wind dependent control, Bailey 1985). But in most cases the energy saving potential of control seem to be overestimated. In this paper the main influences of control strategies on energy saving are discussed. By example calculations of energy consumption were made for several control strategies. The results elucidate that there are only minor differences in heat consumption for the investigated control strategies and therefore energy saving potential of control is also small. For online optimisation of control it is more important to increase the yield in order to maximise the net income of the grower. As the heating costs are about 10 % of the total production costs a reduction in yield of 1 % must be compensated by more than 10 % energy saving.

Development of a Greenhouse Nutrient Recycling System for Tomato Production in Humid Tropics

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 7 (2005): Development of a Greenhouse Nutrient Recycling System for Tomato Production in Humid Tropics by Uttam Dhakal, Vilas M. Salokhe, Han. J. Tantau, Johannes Ma