Green House

Green House is a house with protection boundaries which allows only sunlight and no other outside environmental factor to enter.

A Green house has basically one purpose, that is to provide and maintain a growing environment that will result in optimum crop

production at maximum yield.

What is Green House Technology???

Green House technology provides a controlled and favorable environment for crop to grow and yield high in all the seasons.

Saves crop from cold in winters, from heat in summers and from rain in monsoon seasons.

Environments can be suitably modified as per the requirements of the crop.

Advantages of Green House Manipulation of Growing season

Round the year production of most desired crop.

Higher production per unit area is obtained

Higher value and higher quality crops can be grown

Drastic reduction in wastage of Fertilizers and Pesticides

Efficient use of Irrigation Water

Infestation of pests and diseases is eliminated

Nursery for all vegetable crops can be grown

Suitable for rearing/hardening of tissue culture plants

Why Green House yields more?? U.V. film does not allow harmful U.V. rays to enter the

green house thus protecting the crop

Inside environment remains under control

Carbon dioxide released by the plants released in night is consumed by plants itself in the morning. Thus the plants get about 8-10% times more food than the open field condition

Inside temperature is raised because of green house effect. Long wave (IR) radiations are absorbed and retained for longer time inside the Greenhouse

Components in a Green House

Green House components can be broadly divided into 3 main categories.

Structural Design.

Green House covering.

Environmental controls

Structural Design

A structure design of a green house must provide protection against damages from wind, rain, heat and cold. At the same time the structure of green house must be of minimum size in order to permit maximum light transmission to the crop.

Structural consideration in green

house Hot galvanized steel poles and profiles. It is based on the desired length,

width, gutter height, spans etc for the green houses.

For Poly or Aluminum/metallic lock profiles connect polythene to metallic construction and gutters.

The roof should be built from strong gothic type arches with narrow spacing for higher stability of the PE cover and increased resistance to heavy rainfall and strong winds.

The structure should be built modularly to enable easy expansion.

For most efficient release of hot air and excess humidity, ventilation openings are placed in the roof.

Opening should be vertical in order to prevent rainfall from reaching the growing areas.

Green House Covering

Green house covering are used to polyethylene film used to cover green house.

Covering Should have following properties…..

UV Filtration:For longer duration of PE itself and prevent harmful radiation from reaching the plants the stability of thermo film allows it to resist splitting and tearing and to maintain the above properties up to 2 years

Anti – Fog properties:Accumulation of condensation and uncontrolled dripping inside the green house are avoided a special anti fog coating.

PE strip for Insulation:These are special strips which insulate the covering polythene from heat of the steel arches and protect the PE at the point of contact. The strip lengthens the life of PE.

Insect Proof Net: A dedicated net is required for preventing entrance of insects into green houses with minimum effect on ventilation. This insect proof net minimizes the consumption of pesticides thus reducing the cost and negative effects of chemicals

Environment control

Environment control systems are various control systems which are used to regulate temperature (i.e. heating & cooling) and other controls.

It consist of following:

Cooling: Evaporative cooling pad can be installed along the long wall of the green house in order to reduce temperatures up to 15 0 C during the dry period and to increase humidity if necessary. The system is automatically operated according to the temperature/ humidity/time.

Electric Fan:Dedicated fans with air replacement capacity and cooling operation for climate control function and disease prevention. For energy conservation the fans are operated gradually in four stages according to temperature and humidity parameters.

Air Mixers:They are used for the purpose of air movements in order to prevent diseases and to create a uniform environment. They are resistant to high humidity and temperatures as well as to chemicals

Sensors:A fully integrated computer network constantly monitors and controls the variables in our greenhouses For the climate control indoor sensors should be there for temperature and humidity and outdoor sensors for external temperatures, humidity, wind speed and directions.

Optional: Control system which is compatible with all irrigation and fertigation systems in open field or green house.

One of the important aspect in a green house is Irrigation and Fertigation System.

Irrigation System:Irrigation system consisting of drip lines, top sprinklers, Pumps, Distribution pipes.

Pumps:From tube well to operational tank. (Specifications of pump will be defined by underground water level).For irrigation from the operational/reserve tank to the field ( Pump specifications as per the field requirements).

Drip Lines: Should be resistant to high pressure (18m to

40m ) Uniform discharge along the full length of

the lateral. Homogenous dispersal and distribution along the

whole line. High capacity self cleaning drippers. Long life.

Sprinkling System:

Post planting rapids and efficient root striking.

Refreshment of plants and reduction of temperature

Polyethylene Distribution Pipe:

Compatibility with drip and sprinklers lines with special dedicated fittings and connectors. These should have following properties:

All connector should be pressure resistant up to 150 mts (minimum)

All connector should be made for fast connection and disconnections.

All accessories are dedicated units compatible with specific drippers and sprinklers for net pressure resistant up to 150 meters.

All should be resistant to tough conditions of heat, sun, variable high temperatures and pressures

Filtration System:

Automatic computerized self cleaning system which maintains the irrigation and fertigation continuously under highest efficiency and allows the drip lines to have longest possible duration.

Plastic ring volumetric filters integrated into a filtration battery.

Filtration grade from 40 to 140 mesh.

Precise volumetric filtration. Grade of filtration is adjusted to impurity of water and outlets of drippers by replaceable plastic rings.

Black flash operation performed and repeated in event of accumulation of impurity on filters, operated by pressure differential measurement and/or by time and/or by water quantity measurement.

Filtration capacity can be increased for increased rate flow demand by adding filters to basic battery.

Modular compatibility sand separators with 93% of sand separation capability.

Fertigation System In Green Houses

It is used for continuous control and automatic regulation of nutritional composition by injection of various fertilizers and acids from separated tanks. This system allows adjustments of fertigation program according to both the stages and rate of growth of plants and changing climate conditions.

Fertigation Control system is composed of following elements.

Computerized field fertigation heads. Electric solenoids.

Communications to valve, motors, pumps and other control elements.

Lighting protective device for communication and power supply.

Cables.

Growing Systems in Green Houses

There are many green house production systems. Some of them are:

Tissue Culture

Transplant and plug mixture production.

Hydroponics/Soil less Culture.

Tissue Culture Tissue culture begins in a laboratory, which consist of

media preparation room, a transfer room and a culture growing room.

The plants are started in a test tube in sterilized growing medium consisting mainly of agar (polysaccharide gel derived from certain algae), fertilizer elements, vitamins and growth regulators.

Once the plant tissue has developed into a plantlet, it is transferred to a soil less media (Any combination of peat moss, sand perlite, pumice or vermiculite).

The plantlets are moved to a green house and begin process of acclimatization.

Once acclimatized, or hardened off, they are places under normal green house conditions for growing out.

Tissue culture is a relative new method of plant propagation.

It is available for grower for two major purposes

a) Mass production.

b.) To establish and / or maintain virus free stock.

Transplant and plug mixture production

Excellent crops of high yield begin with seed that is disease free and high quality.

Plant Growing Media:A good plant media should be friable, moderately fertile, of good aeration and well drained yet should have sufficient water holding capacity to prevent excessive drying. It should be free of weed seeds and diseases. Plant growing media vary from just topsoil to combination of topsoil, sand, peat moss vermiculite, perlite, rock wool, rice hulls, compost or other additional media. Plants may be grown in completely artificial media.

Hydroponics / soil less Culture

Hydroponics culture is possibly the most intensive method of crop production. It is highly productive, conservative of water and land and protective of the environment.

Hydroponics is a technology for growing plants in nutrient solutions (water & fertilizers) with or without the use of an artificial medium (e.g. sand, gravel, vermiculite, rock wool, peat moss, saw dust) to provide mechanical support. Hydroponics systems are further categorized as open (i.e. once the nutrient solution is delivered to the plant roots it is not reused) or closed (i.e. surplus solutions is recovered, replenished and recycled)

The main advantages of hydroponics systems are high density maximum crop yield. Crop production where no suitable soils exists, a virtual indifference to ambient temperature and seasonality, more effective use of water and fertilizers, minimum use of land area, and suitability for mechanization and disease control. Hydroponics offers a means of control over soil borne diseases and pest.

Other types of hydroponics system are:

Liquid (Non aggregate) hydroponics Systems.

Nutrient Film Technology (NFT)

Liquid (Non aggregate) hydroponics Systems:Liquid systems are closed systems in which the plants roots are directly exposed to the nutrient solution, with no other growing medium and the solution is reused.

Nutrient Film Technology:In this system a thin film of nutrient solution flows through plastic lined channels, which contain plant roots. The walls of the channel are flexible and this permits them to be drawn together around the base of each plant, excluding light and preventing evaporation. Nutrient solution is pumped to the higher end of each chamber and flows by gravity past the plants roots to catchment's pipes and a sump. The solution is monitored for replenishment of salts and water before it is recycled. Capillary material in the channel prevent young plants from dying out and the roots soon grow into a tangled mat.

The main advantage of NFT system is that it requires much less nutrient solution. It is there fore easier to heat the solution during winter to obtain optimum temperature for root growth and to cool it during hot summers in arid and tropical regions, thereby avoiding the bolting of lettuce and other undesirable plant responses

Estimated cost of Green House installation for 10 acres

+ Greenhouse Structure 435 USD

+ Crop Support Installation 44 USD

+ Greenhouse Cover 46 USD

+ Inside Thermal Screen System 98 USD

+ Drip Irrigation System 114 USD

+ Fertilisation System 19 USD

+ Heating System 185 USD

+ Climate controller 29 USD

+ Insect Proof Net 2 USD

+ Cooling system 148 USD

Air Heating 5 USD

Cooling System 16 USD

Electric Boxes 19 USD

Electric Cable 6 USD

+ CIF Nhava Sheva 63 USD

+ Insurance 7 USD

TOTAL COST 1236 USD