Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation Research Articles

Accounting for Organizational and Economic Mechanisms in Greenhouse Activities

The article considers a specific area of greenhouse vegetable production, which is an important area of greenhouse farming that significantly affects the availability of plant products and canned vegetables yearly in the Republic of Uzbekistan. In adopting greenhouse vegetable cultivation, certain factors are considered, such as the location of the farm, natural and climatic conditions, and types of farming, that as open field or protected farming. Agriculture is the main pillar of the country’s economy. This work aims to study greenhouse vegetable farming adopted in the country. It also aims to study the technological innovation applied in its operation, its structural and functional organization, and the economic benefits derived from it. The study data were obtained from the statistical database of the World Bank. The data were analyzed based on the descriptive statistics of the factors characterizing the organizational and economic mechanisms of agriculture in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The study results show that the main technology adopted in the country for the proper running of greenhouse farming is greenhouse vegetable clusters, and there is a strong correlation between the organizational and economic indicators of the greenhouse vegetable clusters. It is found that the economic yield of the greenhouse vegetable clusters depends on the patterns in which the clusters are organized, such as the availability of labor, as well as transport routes for transporting products. Adopting the appropriate policies for organizing the clusters could lead to sustainable food security for the population of the country, including the development of agricultural infrastructures, such as road networks, crop storage facilities, access to electricity, foreign investments, domestic loans, etc. The work analyzes the production efficiency and current economic status of farms. It also gives recommendations for improving the production of vegetable crops in the greenhouse.

Determination of fungal root and stem rot agents of melons grown in Kumluca/Antalya

Kumluca has an important place in terms of greenhouse vegetable cultivation. Melon is among one of the main vegetables grown in the district on about 3200 decare of land. Various diseases cause decrease in the yield and quality of melons grown undercover in Türkiye. Among them, Fusarium wilt and gummy stem blight diseases especially have caused significant losses in recent years. In this research, the incidence and severity of the root and stem rot disease in Kumluca were determined by surveys made in 72 melon greenhouses in this area. Plant and soil samples were taken to the laboratory and isolations were made. As a result, Fusarium oxysporum and Didymella bryoniae were the most frequently isolated pathogens from the plant samples, followed by other Fusarium species. Fungi with the highest isolation frequency from the soil samples were Fusarium spp., Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina. In the pathogenicity test, F. oxysporum, F. solani, F. verticillioides, M. phaseolina and R. solani isolates caused severe symptoms on melon seedlings. Virulence of the F. oxysporum isolates on different cucurbit species was also investigated and it was determined that they caused severe wilting on melon and watermelon seedlings, while symptoms on squash and cucumber were moderate or slight. Additionally, reactions of five melon cultivars (Yusufbey, Çıtırex, Niovi, Ferdevs and Memory) commonly grown in the region against D. bryoniae were investigated using randomly selected four pathogen isolates. All the cultivars were susceptible to the disease.

Application of ultra-low-volume spray for the control of vegetable disease in greenhouse: Investigation of formulation performance and potential dermal exposure.

The use of pesticides in greenhouse vegetable cultivation is necessary and significant. However, traditional pesticide application methods such as the use of backpack sprayers with water-diluted pesticides have certain drawbacks, e.g., uneven distribution, high labor intensity, and safety risks. In this work, fluazinam ultra-low-volume liquids (Flu-ULVs) were prepared using oily solvents as carriers. The effects of different oils on the physical properties of the preparations were investigated. The Flu-ULV can be sprayed directly using a hand-held ultra-low-volume (ULV) sprayer without dilution with water. Compared with commercial water-based suspension concentrates of fluazinam, the Flu-ULV samples showed better wetting of tomato leaves, better atomization, and more uniform droplet distribution. At a dosage of 300 mL/ha, the coverage rate of tomato leaves ranged from 32.47% to 79.3%, with a droplet deposition density of 556 to 2017 droplets/cm2. Application of Flu-ULVs provided 70.86% control efficacy against gray mold in tomatoes, which was higher than those achieved with reference products. Dermal exposure to Flu-ULVs was also evaluated in greenhouse experiments. The coverage rates for all parts of the operator's body ranged from 0.02% to 0.07%, with deposition volumes of 2.23 to 12.26 μg/cm2. Ground ULV spraying of fluazinam was proved to be an effective and safe management option for the control of tomato gray mold in greenhouses. This study laid a foundation for the use of ultra-low volume spray to control vegetable diseases in greenhouse, especially those induced by high humidity environment. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Religious Attitudes Towards Ethical Problems in the Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation in Türkiye

The main purpose of this study is to determine the level of influence of religious sensitivity regarding the ethical problems of greenhouse vegetable cultivation and to investigate the possibility of religious contribution to the solution of ethical problems arising on the ground of greenhouse cultivation. Religious sensitivities of greenhouse vegetable growers, where physical conditions are controlled and industrial production is dominant, were analyzed through main categories such as daily life and religion, pesticides and health, genetics and nature. The study aims to provide a background reading of specific moral issues in the context of religious sensitivity analysis.
 The data were collected by means of questionnaires arranged in accordance with the purpose, by interviewing 430 producers growing vegetables in greenhouses within the borders of Antalya province located in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. An index was created to analyze the religious mentality of greenhouse vegetable growers and to show their religious sensitivity levels in solving ethical problems. The characteristics of the producers, their attitudes and behaviors in the production process are known as the factors that affect the religious sensitivity towards the ethical problems of greenhouse vegetable cultivation. These factors were tested with a multiple linear regression model whose dependent variable was the religious sensitivity index.
 Producers who think that they are praying while doing their work in the greenhouse vegetable production process and quit their job to perform the Friday Prayer have been found to be more religiously sensitive to ethical issues than other producers. Religion was found to be important in the daily lives of the producers and it was stated that religion affected behaviors on the basis of mentality. The level of religious sensitivity was determined to be quite high, that a mistake they made in greenhouse vegetable growing activities would be punished not only in the hereafter but also in this world. This situation shows that in order to overcome the ethical problems in greenhouse vegetable cultivation, the strategies to be followed should be considered within the religious framework. In the linear regression model, it can be said that the producers with high school and undergraduate education levels have higher religious sensitivity to the ethical problems of greenhouse vegetable cultivation compared to the producers with primary education level. Certain experiences of greenhouse vegetable growers may be linked to their general religious attitudes. In this respect, it can be said that the religious sensitivity of the producers, who have been doing greenhouse cultivation for a long time, towards ethical problems is more important than the less experienced ones.
 The religious sensitivity index for greenhouse vegetable cultivation is the first in the literature. The religious sensitivity index, whose relationships are analyzed in the form of daily life and religious perception, genetics and nature, greenhouse vegetable production and the hereafter, chemical spraying and health, non-compliance with the spraying time and seeing the return in life, moral consistency and market conditions, seems to have the potential to guide further studies.

The regulation of gross nitrogen transformation rates in greenhouse soil cultivated with cucumber plants under elevated atmospheric [CO2] and increased soil temperature

Climate change scenarios forecast both increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) and temperature. Elevated [CO2] (e[CO2]) and soil temperature (eST) significantly increased plant growth and nitrogen (N) uptake. However, studies on the combined effect of these factors on soil N transformation and microbial community are scarce in agricultural intensification. In the present work, we cultivated cucumber plants under e[CO2] or/and eST, followed by a paired labeling 15N tracer experiment (15NH4NO3 and NH415NO3) to quantify soil gross N transformation rates. Results showed that e[CO2] decreased soil gross N nitrification rate, indicated by a decline in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (amoA-AOB) and nitrite oxidoreductase alpha subunit (nxrA) gene copy numbers, and changed microbial taxonomic composition under ambient soil temperature (aST). Furthermore, eST increased chitinase gene (chiA) and amoA-AOB gene copy numbers and alpha diversity and changed the microbial taxonomic composition to improve soil gross N mineralization and nitrification rates. The combination of e[CO2] and eST promoted soil gross N mineralization, nitrification, and immobilization rates compared with ambient [CO2] and aST. The study showed that the combination of e[CO2] and eST increased the primary gross N transformation rates and accelerated soil N circulation, which could ensure plant N demand. Therefore, combining e[CO2] and eST provided a promising way to help cultivators promote vegetable growth in winter, mitigate soil N loss, and achieve sustainable development in greenhouse vegetable cultivation.

Greenhouse Monitoring System Using Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) Based on IoT

Abstract: The popularization of greenhouse cultivation in agriculture is becoming more and more common, providing sufficient vegetables throughout the year. However, the traditional indoor temperature and humidity monitoring in greenhouses still requires manual measurement on a regular basis, which is inefficient and has poor accuracy. In order to solve the problem of greenhouse temperature and humidity monitoring, a time-sensitive, convenient, and easy-to-use remote monitoring system for greenhouse temperature and humidity is designed. The system collects data with an Arduino Uno control board and uploads and stores data on the ThingSpeak cloud platform with an ESP8266 control board. The DHT22 high-precision sensor is used as the temperature and humidity data acquisition module. And use the browser or smart phone to view remotely at any time. The analysis and test show that the system has high accuracy and low cost. low cost. It is a reliable monitoring system that has a great role in promoting greenhouse vegetable cultivation

Reducing Chemical Fertilizer Application in Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation under Different Residual Levels of Nutrient

Excessive chemical fertilizer application in greenhouse vegetable cultivation results in environmental risks and residual nutrients in the soil. Conventional plot experiments conducted in one field cannot recommend fertilizer reduction to farmers when the residual nutrient levels were various among different fields. In this study, nine plot experiments were simultaneously conducted in nine greenhouse fields where the soils could reflect different residual levels of nutrient, with two application rates (100 and 0%) for each nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer. The results showed that fertilizer reduction did not decrease vegetable yield when soil nitrate, Olsen–phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium were ≥173.3, 45.8, and 93.1 mg kg−1, respectively. However, no N treatment decreased vegetable yields in fields 1–3 because the inadequately residual nitrate (≤103.9 mg kg−1) in these fields led to low nitrate absorbed from sources other than chemical fertilizer, high recovery efficiencies of N, and high productivity of N absorbed from chemical fertilizer. Residual nitrate that soil EC could reflect was the limiting factor of yield under fertilizer reduction. This study indicated that reducing fertilizer in greenhouse vegetable cultivation should be based on the residual level of nutrients in the soil, which is meaningful in agricultural sustainability and environmental safety.

Microbial mechanism of crop residues addition in nitrogen leaching loss retention and soil ecosystem stability maintenance

Over fertilization is the main factor in excessive N leaching (NL) loss in greenhouse vegetable cultivation systems. Adjusting the fertilizer application rate and returning plant residues effectively reduce NL. However, the microbial mechanism of crop residues addition in NL loss retention remains largely unknown. This study established a tomato-cultivating soil column experiment with different organic fertilizer addition treatments: no organic amendment (CK), chicken manure application (CM), chicken manure ＋rice husk (CMR), and chicken manure ＋maize straw (CMM) to further explore the discrepancies in the microbial community composition and the microbial co-occurrence network structure. The results revealed that CM produced the highest yield when provided with just enough nutrients for the crop requirements. The CMR yield decreased by 26.0%, while CMM remained at the same level as CK. Although discrepancies were evident between the decomposition characteristics and nutrient release rates of the rice husk and maize straw, no differences were apparent between the mineral NL loss retention of the two materials after one growing season, exhibiting a 47.8% and 50.4% reduction compared to CM. Furthermore, crop residues addition induced rapid microbial growth, increased the microbial community richness, and caused lignocellulose degraders accumulation, with fewer operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with the nitrification process. The CMM treatment produced a more robust and complex microbial co-occurrence network that was absent in the CM treatment. The results implied an alleviating effect of the straw amendment on mineral NL loss and emphasized the importance of readily available C sources in stabilizing an ecosystem.

Potential pathways to reduce environmental impact in a greenhouse tomato production: Life cycle assessment for different irrigation and fertilization treatments

Greenhouse vegetable cultivation with high productivity but also with high resource consumption has rapidly developed in Northern China. A comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts from the greenhouse production is vital to identify the important contribution processes and propose potential solutions to alleviate the environmental burden. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to examine the environmental impacts of greenhouse tomato production with the system boundary from greenhouse construction to tomato harvest. The impact of two fertilizers (organic and inorganic) under two irrigation levels was also compared. Nine impact categories including resource demand of energy consumption (EC) and water depletion (WD), pollution impact of global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (ACP), eutrophication potential (EUP), and photochemical oxidation (PHO), and toxicity impact of territory toxicity potential (TTP), freshwater toxicity potential (FTP), and human toxicity potential (HTP) were selected to calculate the total environmental index. The results showed that the greenhouse construction stage contributed to 85.1% of EC, 91.0% of GWP, 68.1% of ACP, 93.2% of EUP and 89.4% of PHO while the tomato production stage resulted in more than 97% of WD and toxicity impact. After normalizing and weighting, FTP was the most environmental risk with an environmental index of 0.106, followed by EUP and ACP. For different treatments, organic fertilizer (N1) with low irrigation level contributed to the largest ironmental index of 0.295 while inorganic fertilizer (N2) with regular irrigation level had the least. Organic fertilizer generally had lower environmental burden in all impact categories with an exception of the toxicity impact. Due to the stronger release of heavy metals, N1 had higher TTP, FTP and HTP than N2. Reducing heavy metals content in organic fertilizers, optimizing organic fertilizer application regime, extending the greenhouse life span, and recycling or reusing the construction materials are recommended to mitigate the environmental risks of solar greenhouse vegetable production.

Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation Weakens the Capacity of the Rhizosphere to Supply Soil Mineral N

Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation Weakens the Capacity of the Rhizosphere to Supply Soil Mineral N

Fertilization Practices: Optimization in Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation with Different Planting Years

Cucumber plant growth and the fate of N in the plant-soil system are influenced by fertilization practices, the strengths of which may vary among soils. Three soils with different years of greenhouse vegetable cultivation (0, 2, and 18 years) were fertilized differently (CK, no N fertilizer applied; CF, chemical NPK fertilizers applied; RCF, reduced chemical NPK fertilizers applied, with N, P, and K reduced by 46.5%, 68.6%, and 54.7%; RCF+CM, 75% of the total N derived from chemical fertilizer and the rest from chicken manure in the case of reduced fertilization) in a pot experiment to study the changes in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) growth, N uptake, residue, and losses. The original N in soil was insufficient to maintain leaf growth and chlorophyll synthesis at later growth stages, even in soil with 18 years of greenhouse vegetable cultivation, where the original N content was the highest (total N 1.73 g kg−1). However, the CF treatment with excessive N fertilization inhibited leaf growth at the early growing stage and accelerated leaf senescence later, especially in soil with longer years of greenhouse vegetable cultivation. Therefore, reduced fertilizer application (RCF and RCF+CM) is appropriate to improve cucumber growth and productivity in greenhouse cultivation with different planting years. Although the same amount of N was applied, the RCF+CM treatment performed better than the RCF treatment in terms of increasing plant N uptake (by 30.5%) and soil N pool storage (by 25.0%) while decreasing N losses (by 16.6%) in soil with 0 years of greenhouse vegetable cultivation. In soil with 2 and 18 years of greenhouse vegetable cultivation, the soil itself functions much better in exogenous N retention and supply, with the N storage and losses not significantly different between the RCF and RCF+CM treatments. We conclude that reduced fertilization with the co-application of chicken manure is optimal for plant growth promotion, output-input ratio increase, soil N fertility improvement, and environmental risk mitigation.

Nutrient Characterization in Soil Aggregate Fractions with Different Fertilizer Treatments in Greenhouse Vegetable Cultivation

Fertilization affects the formation and stability of soil aggregate, as well as the nutrient status of soil aggregate. However, the potential effect of compost on soil aggregate and its nutrient characteristics is still unclear. In view of this, we conducted a greenhouse vegetable cultivation experiment to evaluate soil water-stable aggregate (WSA) and its stability indices and aggregate nutrient stoichiometry characteristics at 0 to 20 cm soil depth with four treatments: (1) no fertilizer (CK), (2) chemical fertilizer (CF), (3) organic fertilizer (OF), and (4) chemical fertilizer plus organic fertilizer (CO). The results showed that the proportion of the 2 to 0.25 mm fraction was the greatest, followed by 0.25 to 0.053 mm, which accounted for 41.83 to 49.53% and 28.60 to 31.88% by weight, respectively. The mean weight diameter (MWD) value and the proportion of the >0.25 mm fraction in the CF, OF, and CO treatments were significantly higher than in the CK treatment. Within the fertilization treatments, the MWD and the proportion of the >0.25 mm fraction in the CO were significantly higher than those in CF and OF. Among all the aggregates, the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents were the highest in the fraction of 0.25 to 0.053 mm. The CF, OF, and CO treatments significantly increased the SOC, TN, and TP contents compared with the CK treatment. The SOC content of fractions >2 mm and 0.25 to 0.053 mm in the CO treatment was significantly higher than that of the CF and OF treatments, and the TN and TP contents in all the aggregates (except < 0.053 mm) were the highest in the CO treatment. The SOC, TN, and TP contents in the 2 to 0.25 mm and 0.25 to 0.053 mm components contributed greatly to the soil SOC, TN, and TP reserves. There was no noticeable difference in the nutrient stoichiometry of the soil aggregate between the different treatments. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the soil physicochemical factors, including SOC, TN, TP, and pH, significantly explained the stability of the soil aggregate. To summarize, chemical fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer positively affected the stability and nutrient accumulation of soil aggregates in greenhouse dryland.

Influence of Topping and Spacing on Growth, Yield, and Fruit Quality of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Under Greenhouse Condition

Tomato is an important vegetable in Ghanaian diet and contributes enormously in livelihood improvement. Tomato production is threatened by a high prevalence of biotic and abiotic stresses as well as increased postharvest losses and poor agronomic practices, thereby resulting in massive importation of tomato and its products to meet the local demands. The recent introduction of greenhouse vegetable cultivation technology in Ghana is a sustainable attempt in addressing and ensuring year-round production of vegetables including tomato. However, research on agronomic practices targeted to improving yield and fruit quality under greenhouse conditions in Ghana is scarcely available. Therefore, this study seeks to evaluate the effect of plant spacing and topping on tomato yield and fruit quality under greenhouse conditions. A 3 ×3 factorial treatment arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications was used. Two factors, plant spacing and topping with each having three levels, were used. Thus, the levels for plant spacing were 0.15 m × 1.3 m, 0.2 m × 1.3 m, and 0.3 m × 1.3 m while topping treatments at trusses 2, 3, and 4 (control) were done. The results showed that yield was significantly influenced by plant spacing in both experiments. The interaction effect of 0.2 m × 1.3 m plant spacing and topping at truss 2 showed significantly higher yields. Furthermore, juice volume was significantly increased by plant spacing. Again, 0.2 m × 1.3 m plant spacing by truss 2 topping interaction produced the highest juice volume. Therefore, these agronomic practices could be an essential and effective approach in achieving higher tomato production with improved fruit quality under greenhouse cultivation to ensure sustainable food security.

Serada Sonbahar Dönemi Dolmalık Biber Yetiştiriciliğinde Hibrit Çeşit Adaylarının Meyve Kalitesi ve Verim Performansları

Sebzelerde düşük sıcaklık zararı; büyüme ve gelişmeyi olumsuz etkileyerek verim ve kalite kayıplarına neden olan önemli bir abiyotik stres faktörüdür. Örtüaltı sebze yetiştiriciliğinde düşük sıcaklıklar nedeniyle tür ve çeşitlere göre değişmekle birlikte verim ve kalite performansları yönünden önemli düzeyde azalışlar meydana gelmektedir. Bu çalışmada, üniversite sanayi iş birliğiyle yürütülen biber çeşit ıslahı programı kapsamında geliştirilen 28 hibrit dolmalık biber çeşit adayının ısıtmasız serada sonbahar dönemi yetiştiriciliğinde meyve kalite ve verim özellikleri yönünden performanslarının karşılaştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Isıtmasız serada ilk hasatlar, fide dikiminden itibaren 46-58 gün sonra yapılmıştır. Dolmalık biber genotipleri arasında meyve boyu değerleri yönünden istatistiksel olarak önemli düzeyde farklılıkların olduğu bulunmuştur. Meyve eni değerleri, 47.31-55.86 mm arasında değişim göstermiştir. Renk tonları yönünden dolmalık biber genotipleri arasında belirgin farklılıkların olduğu saptanmıştır. Hibrit biber çeşit adaylarında bitki başına meyve sayılarının ortalama 15.6-30.0 adet arasında değiştiği belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada, Samsun ekolojik koşullarında serada hibrit biber çeşit adaylarının dekara verim değerlerinin, 2560.5 kg (HD-16) ile 5102.5 kg (HD-8) arasında değişim gösterdiği saptanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda incelenen tüm parametreler birlikte değerlendirildiğinde; HD-4, HD-8 ve HD-24 genotiplerinin düşük sıcaklığa tolerant olduğu ve sonbahar dönemi yetiştiriciliği için ümit var hibrit dolmalık biber çeşit adayları olduğu belirlenmiştir.

Trade-offs between economic benefits and environmental impacts of vegetable greenhouses expansion in East China.

Greenhouse vegetable cultivation (GVC) has become a global issue in agricultural land use in recent years. While the use of GVC brings considerable economic profits, it has significant environmental impacts, with a risk of threat to sustainability. To make sound development and management strategies, it is necessary to characterize the trade-offs between the benefits and costs of GVC expansion. This study focuses on the expansion of GVC in East China, taking Xiaoshan County as a case study. Remote sensing techniques are used to detect the spatial patterns of GVC expansion from 2005 to 2015; then, field surveys and empirical models are employed to assess the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and plastic waste. Lastly, monetary analysis is used to evaluate the trade-offs between the environmental costs and economic gains caused by GVC expansion. The results show that GVC has expanded rapidly from 2005 to 2015 in Xiaoshan County. The GVC expansion has significantly increased GHG emissions and plastic waste from cultivated land. Both the economic benefits and environmental costs of GVC expansion show an increasing tendency throughout the study period. It denotes that economic benefits can compensate for environmental costs of GHG emissions and plastic waste brought by GVC, but the long-term damage to the quality and environmental conditions of cultivated land is still underestimated. We finally propose four major policy implications to achieve a win-win scenario between economic profitability and cultivated land protection associated with GVC.

The effect of organic and conventional management practices on soil macropore structure in greenhouse vegetable production

AbstractGreenhouse vegetable production (GVP) is developing rapidly and farming practices strongly affect soil quality. However, quantitative evidence of the differences in soil macropore structure between organic and conventional greenhouse vegetable cultivation is still unavailable. In this study, we sampled paired organic and conventional greenhouse vegetable soils from the tilled and plough pan layers at sample sites south of Nanjing, China. Using industrial computed tomography (CT) scanning technology to measure soil macropore characteristics, we examined the effects of different farming practices on soil macropore structure, as well as the main factors that influenced soil macropore characteristics. Organic greenhouse vegetable (OGV) production was associated with a greater quantity and quality of soil macropores compared with conventional greenhouse vegetable (CGV) production. The total macroporosity in the tilled soil layer averaged 16.9% in OGV soils, more than twice that of CGV soils. OGV soils exhibited an improved pore size distribution with a greater relative abundance of transmission pores (50–500 μm) and a decreased relative abundance of large macropores (>1,000 μm). Pore size and shape data suggested that OGV soils had fewer soil cracks but more biopores than CGV soils in the tilled layer, as well as more root biopores in the plough pan layer. Furthermore, macropore morphology was improved in both the tilled and plough pan layers of OGV soils. In particular, macropore connectivity was nearly 10 times greater in the tilled layer of OGV soils. Soil organic matter (SOM) content was the dominant factor influencing most macropore characteristics (total macroporosity, connectivity, and relative porosity of 100–1,000 μm pores, all small macropores and elongated medium macropores). We suggest that greater SOM content and consequently better soil macropore structure in OGV soils was dependent not only on greater organic manure input, but also on the non‐application of chemical fertilizer.Highlights Farm management affects soil macropore structure in greenhouse vegetable production. Compared soil macropore structure in organic and conventional greenhouse vegetable cultivation. OGV had greater quantity and quality of soil macropores than CGV. Greater SOM in organic farming contributed to the better soil macropore structure.

Exploring the communities of bacteria, fungi and ammonia oxidizers in rhizosphere of Fusarium-diseased greenhouse cucumber

Long-term greenhouse vegetable cultivation commonly incurs soil-borne diseases, which seriously threaten the sustainability of greenhouse production system. Rhizomicrobiome plays an important role in ensuring plant health and driving soil nutrient cycling. However, how rhizomicrobiome respond to the occurrence of soil-borne disease is still not completely clear. Increasing knowledge involved would benefit to the prevention of soil-borne disease in intensive greenhouse production by providing the insight into soil microbial ecology. Herein, with the help of a continuously cultivated greenhouse cucumber field, soil physicochemical and biochemical properties and the abundances (quantitative real-time PCR) and communities (high-throughput amplicon sequencing) of bacteria, fungi, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) in the rhizosphere of healthy and Fusarium-diseased cucumbers were investigated. Diseased cucumber rhizosphere had significantly higher available nutrient contents and acidity compared to healthy cucumber rhizosphere, but significantly lower microbial activity and nitrification capacity. Although there was no significant difference in the abundances of bacteria, fungi, AOA and AOB, diseased cucumber rhizosphere had more abundant Fusarium oxysporum. For bacteria, only community richness in diseased cucumber rhizosphere was significantly lower than that in healthy cucumber rhizosphere, whereas for fungi both community richness and Shannon diversity were significantly lower. Community structures of bacteria, fungi, AOA and AOB all significantly differed between healthy and diseased cucumber rhizosphere. Particularly, healthy cucumber rhizosphere had more abundant beneficial microbes (Bacillus and Penicillium) and putative biocontrol microbes (Mycothermus) as well as Nitrosospira briensis Clade-related AOB. These results revealed significantly different rhizomicrobiome between Fusarium wilt diseased and healthy cucumbers under long-term intensive greenhouse cultivation, and suggested that rhizomicrobiome may play an important role in the occurrence of Fusarium wilt disease of cucumber. The findings obtained here also provided potential directions towards the prevention of soil-borne diseases and the improvement of N turnover in diseased soil by manipulating rhizosphere microbiome.

Analysis of the Relationship between Vegetable Virtual Water Trade and Saltwater Intrusion in Shouguang City, China

Shouguang City is located in north-central of Shandong, distributing the piedmont plain and coastal plain from the south to north. This area, as a vegetable base in northern China, not only meets local needs but also has a large number of vegetables exported to domestic and foreign countries in the form of virtual water. The vegetable production in this area mainly depends on groundwater exploitation, which causes saltwater intrusion problems. This study establishes the linear model of virtual water and vegetable production, irrigation water consumption, total population, per capita vegetable sales volume, and the purchase amount of vegetable trade. The output of vegetable virtual water from 1980 to 2012 is calculated. 3.79 billion kg of vegetables were exported in the form of virtual water with a volume of 145 million m3 in 2012, accounted for 78% of the average annual groundwater resources in the region. The vegetable trade development in Shouguang City from 1980 to 2002 can be divided into two stages: bare land vegetable cultivation in 1980–1990 and greenhouse vegetable cultivation in 1991–2002. The correlations among the annual virtual water output volume of vegetable trade, annual groundwater cumulative storage, groundwater depth at the center of depression area, and saltwater intrusion area are established and analyzed. In the first stage, for every 10 million m3 of vegetable virtual water was transferred, the salt water intrusion area in this area increased by 13.8 km2; in the second stage, the saltwater intrusion area increased correspondingly by 5 km2. The influence of saltwater intrusion on adjusting crop-planting structure is also analyzed to achieve the purpose of effectively alleviating the ecological and environmental problems in the area.

Plant of Lamiaceae family for cultivation at the vertical hydroponic installation

Relevance. Vertical farming – is a new and advanced direction in greenhouse vegetable cultivation. Expansion biodiversity of plants for vertical farming occur with help of green leafy vegetables. Plants of Lamiaceae family are well known as aromatic and medicinal plants with high content of substances with antioxidant activity. It allows use these plants as a base for the functional nutrition. Leafy parts the plants of Lamiaceae family may be used as aromatic and healthy additions to traditional foods, such as salads, soups and sauces. Goal of the study: analysis the biochemical composition of leafy parts plants of Lamiaceaefamily, cultivated at the multi circle hydroponic construction. Materials and methods. 1) Plants: Monarda fistulosa L. (the breeding sample №5 U.P.), Monarda citriodora Cerv. ex Lag. (Simka variety), Melissa officinalisL. (Zhemchuzhina variety). 2) secondary metabolites: flavonoid glycoside linarozid and steroid glycoside moldstim. Methods. 1) cultivation of plants Lamiaceae family at the 5 circles hydroponic construction; 2) analytic methods: determination of dry matter content, determination of ascorbic acid content, determination sum of chlorophylls and carotenoids, determination sum of antioxidants; 3) statistical methods. Results. First experiment the cultivation of plants Lamiaceae family at the multi circle hydroponic construction was successful. Location of plants at different circles of hydroponic installation didn’t influence the content of dry matter, ascorbic acid and sum of chlorophylls in leafy parts of plants Monarda fistulosaL. The content of dry matter and sum of antioxidants in leafy parts of Monarda fistulosaL. plants of the first cutting is significantly higher than of other cuttings. So, we can recommend the leaves of Monarda fistulosa L. plants of the first cutting for the healthy additions in the scheme of the functional nutrition. Seed treatment with water solutions of secondary metabolites changed significantly the weight of leaves: it was increased in Monarda citriodoraCerv. ex Lag. and in Melissa officinalisL.

Effects of maize as a catch crop on subsequent garland chrysanthemum and green soybean production in soil with excess nitrogen

Greenhouse vegetable cultivation is often associated with the rapid accumulation of nitrate in soils. Therefore, N management strategies are needed for greenhouse vegetable production systems. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a summer catch crop on vegetable crop yields. Maize, as an N catch crop, was planted in leafy vegetable (garland chrysanthemum) and fruit vegetable (green soybean) greenhouse cropping systems during the summer of two consecutive years. Maize removed 4.9–11.8 g N m−2 from the greenhouse soil and also improved soil penetration resistance. The first year cultivation of maize increased the yield of garland chrysanthemum leaves but not the yield of green soybean. In first year, the yield of garland chrysanthemum showed negative correlation with SPAD value and nitrate content in leaves, while the yield of green soybean was positively correlated with shoot fresh weight and dry weights of roots and nodules. During the second year, cultivation of the catch crop clearly increased the yield of both garland chrysanthemum and green soybean. Positive correlations were observed between yield and SPAD value in garland chrysanthemum, and between yield and nodule dry weight in green soybean, respectively. These results indicate that using maize as a catch crop in soil with excessive N accumulation can improve soil conditions and promote subsequent crop growth. However, the effect of catch crop cultivation on yield was dependent on the type of subsequent crop.