D6.1 Market analysis and technology database report

Within the EDEN-ISS project, a lot of technologies were implemented into the Future Expoloration Greenhouse (FEG) for the analogue mission on Antarctica. Most were existing technologies that had been developed within previous “space related” projects and some were derived from existing hightech greenhouse production technology. This document analyses the potential for spin-offs to other applications, particularly of the technologies that were either new or modifications of existing technologies, that is: the E-nose for the microbial detection; the water-cooled LED luminaries for plant lighting; the online, continuous control of the spectrum of the luminaries and the plant health monitoring system. Whereas the potential for application of the modified E-nose is particularly in hospitals and related places, the potential for the other three systems is particularly in high-tech, fresh vegetable production, such as high-tech greenhouses or Vertical Farms. Indeed, given the size of such markets, the potential for each system is certainly high. This document also gives a preview of the improvements/adaptations of each system, which would improve the penetration in the potential market

Integrating morphological and physiological responses of tomato plants to light quality to the crop level by 3D modeling

Next to its intensity, the spectral composition of light is one of the most important factors affecting plant growth and morphology. The introduction of light emitting diodes (LEDs) offers perspectives to design optimal light spectra for plant production systems. However, knowledge on the effects of light quality on physiological plant processes is still limited. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of six light qualities on growth and plant architecture of young tomato plants, and to upscale these effects to the crop level using a multispectral, functional-structural plant model. Young tomato plants were grown under 210 μmol m-2 s-1 blue, green, amber, red, white or red/blue (92%/8%) LED light with a low intensity of sunlight as background. Plants grown under blue light were shorter and developed smaller leaves which were obliquely oriented upward. Leaves grown under blue light contained the highest levels of light harvesting pigments, but when exposed to blue light only, they had the lowest rate of leaf photosynthesis. However, when exposed to white light these leaves had the highest rate of photosynthesis. Under green light, tomato plants were taller and leaves were nearly horizontally oriented, with a high specific leaf area. The open plant structure combined with a high light transmission and reflection at the leaf level allowed green light to penetrate deeper into the canopy. Plants grown under red, amber and white light were comparable with respect to height, leaf area and biomass production. The 3D model simulations indicated that the observed changes in plant architecture had a significant impact on light absorbance at the leaf and crop level. The combination of plant architecture and spectrum dependent photosynthesis was found to result in the highest rate of crop photosynthesis under red light in plants initially grown under green light. These results suggest that dynamic light spectra may offer perspectives to increase growth and production in high value production systems such as greenhouse horticulture and vertical farming.</p

Klimaat sturen op de inhoud van het blad

Growers would like to know the status of their crop to determine climate strategy and crop management practices. Chemical composition of the crop can now only be determined by sampling leaves or fruits, send this to a laboratory and wait for the analysis. In this project, we aimed to use hyperspectral imaging to determine the contents of sugars and starch, dry matter percentage, chlorophyll and nutrient composition in the crop. The results are promising. Hyperspectral cameras are very well capable to estimate the concentrations of sugars in leaves and fruits, chlorophyll content, dry matter percentage and specific leaf area. This allows the growers to adjust their climate settings or crop management based on these hyperspectral images

Plantkampioen luchtzuivering binnenruimtes : Eindrapport

Within the project ‘Plant champion air purification’, a public-private cooperation within Topsector Horticulture and Starting materials, research was carried out by Wageningen University & Research BU Greenhouse Horticulture on the possibilities of plants to purify indoor contaminated air. In this report the experimental findings are reported. The general conclusion is that plants can effectively remove Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) without causing plant injury. Formaldehyde is research being a typical hydrophilic VOC, for the ornamental plants Ficus, Spathiphyllum, Sansevieria en Cyperus. Ficus is the fastest in removing formaldehyde from the air by its aboveground leaves. Incorporating also the substrate, then Cyperus is the fastest. It was shown that the presence of water in air and/or substrate is a key factor in the rate of formaldehyde depletion. The second VOC examined was the lipophylic xylene which followed an uptake pathway other than formaldehyde. In the experiments it was shown that xylene was adsorbed to the leaf only temporarily, and was again mostly reemitted when brought into clean air. Possibly the substrate is of bigger importance then the plant in removing xylene and other lipophilic VOC, as was also stated in literature. The research shows that plants clearly have the potential to purify the indoor air from VOC

UV Transmission in Laminated glass: Effects on Plant Growth and Development

When glass is laminated for safety reasons, it usually blocks UV radiation partially or even completely when UV blocking materials are used. In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in interlayers with high UV transmission, especially in relation to greenhouse applications. In this paper, we present an overview of the effects of UV transmittance on plant growth and development, in order to advice on the use of the high transmission interlayers versus the standard interlayers. Using UV transmitting films instead of UV blocking films has opportunities to alter plant growth and morphology. In general, plants grow more compact with increased UV transmittance, growth and biomass are reduced, flowering is stimulated (although the effects are species dependent), concentrations of secondary metabolites which are positive from nutritional perspective are stimulated and flower appearance (color) can be positively influenced. Pollination by bees is improved when UV is present and plant resilience to pests and diseases is improved. These results show that UV transmitting materials can have potential to be used in for example botanical gardens, office centers and garden markets, where producing biomass might even be unfavorable. On the contrary, the increased ornamental value by improved shape and flower color will be appreciated. Therefore, these aspects of transmitting UV to plants can have potential for markets where plant production is not the main goal

Growing fresh food on future space missions : Environmental conditions and crop management

This paper deals with vegetable cultivation that could be faced in a space mission. This paper focusses on optimization, light, temperature and the harvesting process, while other factors concerning cultivation in space missions, i.e. gravity, radiation, were not addressed. It describes the work done in preparation of the deployment of a mobile test facility for vegetable production of fresh food at the Neumayer III Antarctic research station. A selection of vegetable crops was grown under varying light and temperature conditions to quantify crop yield response to climate factors that determine resource requirement of the production system. Crops were grown at 21 °C or 25 °C under light treatments varying from 200 to 600 μmol m−2 s−1 and simulated the dusk and dawn light spectrum. Fresh food biomass was harvested as spread harvesting (lettuce), before and after regrowth (herbs) and at the end of cultivation. Lettuce and red mustard responded well to increasing light intensities, by 35–90% with increasing light from 200 to 600 μmol m−2 s−1, while the other crops responded more variably. However, the quality of the leafy greens often deteriorated at higher light intensities. The fruit biomass of both determinate tomato and cucumber increased by 8–15% from 300 to 600 μmol m−2 s−1. With the increase in biomass, the number of tomato fruits also increased, while the number of cucumber fruits decreased, resulting in heavier individual fruits. Increasing the temperature had varied effects on production. While in some cases the production increased, regrowth of herbs often lagged behind in the 25 °C treatment. In terms of fresh food production, the most can be expected from lettuce, cucumber, radish, then tomato, although the 2 fruit vegetables require a considerable amount of crop management. Spread harvesting had a large influence on the amount of harvested biomass per unit area. In particular, yield of the 3 lettuce cultivars and spinach was ca. 400% than single harvesting. Increasing plant density and applying spread harvesting increased fresh food production. This information will be the basis for determining crop growth recipes and management to maximize the amount of fresh food available, in view of the constraints of space and energy requirement of such a production system

Sturen op stress: wanneer is het (nog) nuttig?

In this project a conceptual framework is made about different types of plant stress in a greenhouse cultivation. The aim is to get a better understanding of plant stress and to prevent the need for energy consuming actions when a plant is “out of balance”. What is plant stress? A plant strives for homeostasis: all chemical and physical processes are in balance with the environment. In a stress situation, a plant senses the change that disturbs the balance between plant and environment. The plant adapts to the new situation which leads to a new balance (acclimation). That means that stress can have a negative impact on the crop, but stress can also be beneficial. Crop and climate management both disturb the balance and steer the crop in the desired direction, which is considered as positive stress. The cultivation method “Next Generation Growing” aims for balances in crop and greenhouse. It is not always clear which actions lead to positive stress and which actions are negative for the crop. Monitoring plant balance or plant stress would be a helpful tool. But a lot is still unknown, like which plant processes should be monitored, what are critical values and what time period is needed for “a balanced crop”

Plant factories; crop transpiration and energy balance

Population growth and rapid urbanisation may result in a shortage of food supplies for cities in the foreseeable future. Research on closed plant production systems, such as plant factories, has attempted to offer perspectives for robust (urban) agricultural systems. Insight into the explicit role of plant processes in the total energy balance of these production systems is required to determine their potential. We describe a crop transpiration model that is able to determine the relation between sensible and latent heat exchange, as well as the corresponding vapour flux for the production of lettuce in closed systems. Subsequently, this model is validated for the effect of photosynthetic photon flux, cultivation area cover and air humidity on lettuce transpiration, using literature research and experiments. Results demonstrate that the transpiration rate was accurately simulated for the aforementioned effects. Thereafter we quantify and discuss the energy productivity of a standardised plant factory and illustrate the importance of transpiration as a design parameter for climatisation. Our model can provide a greater insight into the energetic expenditure and performance of closed systems. Consequently, it can provide a starting point for determining the viability and optimisation of plant factories

Integrating morphological and physiological responses of tomato plants to light quality to the crop level by 3D modeling

Next to its intensity, the spectral composition of light is one of the most important factors affecting plant growth and morphology. The introduction of light emitting diodes (LEDs) offers perspectives to design optimal light spectra for plant production systems. However, knowledge on the effects of light quality on physiological plant processes is still limited. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of six light qualities on growth and plant architecture of young tomato plants, and to upscale these effects to the crop level using a multispectral, functional-structural plant model. Young tomato plants were grown under 210 μmol m-2 s-1 blue, green, amber, red, white or red/blue (92%/8%) LED light with a low intensity of sunlight as background. Plants grown under blue light were shorter and developed smaller leaves which were obliquely oriented upward. Leaves grown under blue light contained the highest levels of light harvesting pigments, but when exposed to blue light only, they had the lowest rate of leaf photosynthesis. However, when exposed to white light these leaves had the highest rate of photosynthesis. Under green light, tomato plants were taller and leaves were nearly horizontally oriented, with a high specific leaf area. The open plant structure combined with a high light transmission and reflection at the leaf level allowed green light to penetrate deeper into the canopy. Plants grown under red, amber and white light were comparable with respect to height, leaf area and biomass production. The 3D model simulations indicated that the observed changes in plant architecture had a significant impact on light absorbance at the leaf and crop level. The combination of plant architecture and spectrum dependent photosynthesis was found to result in the highest rate of crop photosynthesis under red light in plants initially grown under green light. These results suggest that dynamic light spectra may offer perspectives to increase growth and production in high value production systems such as greenhouse horticulture and vertical farming.</p