Controlled Environment Agriculture: Efficiently growing food and flowers beyond the limits of nature
An increased demand for a year-round supply of fresh, high-quality, and locally grown produce and the mitigation of food deserts has spurred interest in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) in greenhouses and indoor production facilities In CEs, light quality, intensity, duration and uniformity, temperature and carbon dioxide concentration can be regulated and manipulated. With the advancement of horticultural light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the four dimensions of light can be precisely adjusted to enhance growth, development, yield, flavor, nutrients, color, and crop quality. Over the past 10 years, my lab has developed methods to enhance floriculture, leafy green, hemp, vegetable, and herb crop production in greenhouses, growth rooms/containers, warehouse-based plant factories, and vertical farms with LEDs. This has allowed us to develop models to allow CEA food and ornamental growers to calculate and implement the most advantageous growing environment by taking growth, development, consumer preference and energy costs into account.
Presenter: Roberto Lopez, Associate Professor of Horticulture at Michigan State University
Date: 29 January 2021
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
WebEx: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/rosaraudales
For more information, contact: Rosa Raudales at rosa@uconn.edu