Nowadays, organic vegetables have become a kind of mainstream. Everyone is literally obsessed with organic farming, thereby boycotting nitrates and chemicals. And the demand for vegetables grown in greenhouses is growing in the markets. But there are also those who believe that tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse are also fed with “chemistry”, and not fertilized with minerals. The editorial board of the news agency “Chechnya Today” together with the head of the Department of “Agrotechnology” of the Chechen State University named after A. A. Kadyrov Nurbek Adaev figured out whether this is really the case and what is the advantage of vegetables grown in greenhouse conditions.
Greenhouses of the IV generation
In the Chechen Republic, several projects aimed at improving the environment and improving the quality of vegetable products have been developed and implemented on the basis of the Technopark of the A. A. Kadyrov CHSU. So, in particular, a project is being implemented to develop a technology for optimizing the carbon nutrition of tomatoes and cucumbers in protected ground conditions.
The objectives of the project include: determining the extreme (threshold) values of the needs of tomato and cucumber plants in a carbohydrate-containing corrective solution; determining the optimal composition of the organic acids of the corrective solution, in order to reduce the outflow of carbohydrates (plastic substances) of the plant organism involved in the formation of the crop and determining the correlation between the studied parameters and the yield of tomatoes and cucumbers.
The authors and curators of the project should calculate the correlation between the studied parameters and the yield of tomatoes and cucumbers grown in protected soil conditions for each greenhouse complex.
According to the head of the Department of “Agrotechnology” of ChSU Nurbek Adaev, for protected soil, the development of technologies involves the use of the latest scientific achievements and best practices.
“High-tech greenhouses of the IV or V generation are being put into operation very actively all over the world,” the specialist says. – What do IV generation greenhouses mean? This is hydroponics – everything is on solutions and there is no land. All factors of plant life are regulated: light, humidity, temperature. Carbon dioxide is artificially supplied.”
Everything is important
According to the expert, in any conditions there is a shortage or an overabundance of a certain factor. In this case, it is necessary to resort to optimizing all components.
“A plant, like a human and an animal, breathes. It breathes all the time it is alive. The peculiarity of plants, unlike a living organism, is that they are autotrophic – they feed themselves by absorbing sunlight and using water and oxygen to form organic matter from inanimate mineral components. In the process of photosynthesis, all factors are very important,” N. Adaev notes.
One of these factors is carbon nutrition. The air contains approximately 400 – 420 ppm – this is an indicator of the concentration of CO2. The optimal ppm index for intensive photosynthesis is 850 – 1000.
“We conducted our research,” says Nurbek Adayev. – The greenhouse is divided into 5 isolated compartments. And we were able to regulate in certain concentrations of CO2. And we have seen that increasing the level of CO2 increases the yield. Solar radiation, water, and temperature are also involved in the photosynthesis reaction. Well, naturally chlorophyll is a green pigment in plants that is able to capture this energy and in the process of biochemical reactions it forms organic matter from inorganic substances. We have developed a system and now we want to issue a patent.”
Greenhouses – evil is a myth
Some members of society still tend to think that vegetables and tomatoes “fed” with chemicals are grown in greenhouses. Allegedly, they are pumped daily with harmful substances in order to increase the shape and give the vegetables a good look. The specialist categorically disagrees with this.
“To put it mildly, this is not quite right. I would even say that this is very wrong,” he said. – In high-tech greenhouses all over the world and, in particular, in the Chechen Republic, all measures to protect vegetables from pests and diseases are exclusively preventive in nature. Biologics are used, not chemicals.”
In greenhouse conditions, the plant is kept in a state of developing its own high immunity. Such a plant can resist any ailment.
“In the Chechen Republic, especially on the basis of the Yugagroholdin greenhouse complex, only high-quality vegetables are grown,” N. Adaev asserts. – We are trying to make an organic product – an eco-product. That’s why we take the honorable first places in Russia in terms of quality.”
The technologies are different, the approach is the same
In the greenhouses of the Czech Republic, mainly two crops are grown: tomatoes and cucumbers. Peculiar experiments were also carried out on eggplant, green leaf lettuce and pepper. There are tomatoes that grow 365 days a year, and there are those that need years. For example, some tomato varieties grow for three years.
“The cultivation technologies are different, but the approach is systematic. If you identify the ratio of the necessary elements, then you can find the optimal values, – the specialist believes. – Our university has been working on a program to optimize nutrient solutions of meristemic reproduction. This is a very big job, a very big scientific work. We have developed the optimization of nutrient solutions for cellular reproduction of grapes, strawberries and fruit and berry crops. The solutions were optimized, modernized on a hormonal and vitamin basis. Special conditions are necessary to make an organism out of a cell. Scientists have developed basic breeding environments. We optimized them and at the same time we got a higher percentage of the survival rate of these cells, well, the reproduction coefficient. This is also a great success.”
The developed technologies are now successfully applied on the basis of the greenhouse complex “Yugagroholding”. The experience has also been applied in the greenhouse complex of LLC “Rodina”.
“Our students, who see all this, try to use our experience,” Nurbek Adayev concluded.
We add that the greenhouse complex “Yugagroholding” is located on 8.99 hectares of land. The greenhouse uses an assimilation lighting system (additional illumination system), due to which the year-round cultivation of vegetables is carried out. A 110/10 kV transformer substation has been built, a 110 kV personal power line with a length of 18.33 km. All engineering communications, including backup ones, have been brought in, wells have been drilled with the installation of water towers.
A source: https://chechnyatoday.com
