Microclimatic Evaluation of Five Types of Colombian Greenhouses Using Geostatistical Techniques

Abstract

In Colombia, the second-largest exporter of cut flowers worldwide and one of the South American countries with the largest area of crops under cover, passive or naturally ventilated greenhouses predominate. Locally, there are several types of greenhouses that differ in architecture, size, height, shape of roof and ventilation surfaces, of which many characteristics of the microclimate generated in their interior environment are unknown. This generates productive limitations that in some way may be limiting the yield, quality and health of the final products harvested; in addition, Colombian producers do not have the ability to monitor the microclimate of their farms, much less to correlate microclimate data with data on crop production and yield. Therefore, there is a need for the Colombian grower to know the most relevant microclimate characteristics generated in the main greenhouses used locally. The objective of this work was to carry out a microclimatic characterization of the five most used types of greenhouses in Colombia. The main results allowed determining that in these structures, there are conditions of high humidity and low vapor pressure for several hours of the day, which affects the physiological processes of growth and development of the plants. It was also identified that for each type of greenhouse, depending on the level of radiation, there is a significant microclimatic heterogeneity that may be the cause of the heterogeneity in plant growth, which is a common characteristic observed by the technical cultivation personnel. Therefore, it can be concluded that it is urgent to propose microclimatic optimization strategies to help ensure the sustainability of the most important production systems in the country.