Effect of Late Cultivation under Low Tunnels on the Growth and Productivity of Some Leafy Vegetables

Abstract

The experiment was carried out in 2022-2023, on agricultural land in Idlib governorate, in the West Northern of Syrie. Experimental treatments were planted under low tunnels and covered with transparent plastic, to study the effect of late planting of spinach and lettuce crops in protected conditions. The seeds of local varieties of spinach and lettuce were used for the research. The experiment was carried out according to a randomized complete block design.

The experiment results indicated that using protected cultivation methods led to significantly better outcomes in various aspects compared to open-field cultivation. For both spinach and lettuce crops, protected cultivation resulted in higher seed germination percentage (1.3 times), increased leaf area of seedlings (3.3 times), more marketable plants (1.8 times), greater number of leaves per plant (1.3 times), taller plant height (1.3 times), higher seedling weight (3 times), and greater plant weight at harvest (1.5 times). Overall, the total productivity per unit area increased using protected cultivation. The average increase rate for all studied traits was 1.9 times higher in protected cultivation compared to open cultivation. As a result, we recommend late cultivation of spinach and lettuce crops under low tunnels to shorten the cultivation period after the completion of long-season summer cultivation.

Country : Syria

1 Prof. Dr. Rida DRAIE

  1. Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Horticulture Department, Specialization of Plant Biology, Idlib University, Syria

IRJIET, Volume 8, Issue 6, June 2024 pp. 223-228

doi.org/10.47001/IRJIET/2024.806030

References

  1. Al-Hajji A.F. (1997). Vegetables production (1). Directorate of Books and Publications, University of Aleppo, Faculty of Agriculture, Deir Al-Zour, 366p.
  2. Al-Obeid SK, Al-Shtewi, IN. (2004). Production of vegetable crops. Directorate of Books and Publications, University of Aleppo, Faculty of Agriculture, Deir Al-Zour. 510 p.
  3. Al-Obeid SK, and Al-Hajji AF. (1997). Vegetable production "2". Directorate of Books and Publications, University of Aleppo, Faculty of Agriculture, Deir Al-Zour. 400 p.
  4. Al-Obeid, S.K.; Al-Hajji A.F.; Al-Shtewi, I.; Jaafar, B.A. (1994). Protected Agriculture. Directorate of University Books and Publications, Aleppo University Publications, Second Faculty of Agriculture in Deirez-Zor. 270p.
  5. AVRDC. (2015). Healthy Seedling Production, AVRDC. The World Vegetable Center. 16p.
  6. Buraq S.; Al-Ayyubi M.N.; Bawadji AH. (2003). Winter Vegetables Production. Directorate of Books and Publications, University of Aleppo Publications, Faculty of Agriculture, 380p.
  7. Butler, B.R. and Ross, D.S. (1999). Extending the production season for vegetables and small fruits. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland. Pp 1-5.
  8. Carlen, C., and Kruger. E. 2009. Berry production in changing climate condition and cultivation systems: further research requirements. Acta Horticulturae 838:225-228.
  9. Cowan, J.S., C.A. Miles, P.K. Andrews, and D.A. Inglis. 2014. Biodegradable mulch performed comparably to polyethylene in high-tunnel tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) production. Journal of Science Food and Agriculture, 94:1854-1864.
  10. Demchak, K. (2009) Small fruit production in high tunnels. Hort Technology 19(1): 44-49.
  11. Draie, R. (2019). Vegetable Crop Production, Theoretical and Practical Parts. Directorate of University Books and Publications, Idlib University Publications, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering. 450 p.
  12. Draie, R. (2022). Protected Agriculture, Theoretical and Practical Parts. Directorate of Books and Publications, Idlib University Publications, Faculty of Agriculture. 574 p.
  13. Enoch, H.Z. and Enoch Y. (1999). The history and geography of green house, p. 1-15. In: G. Stanhilland H. Z. Enoch (eds). Greenhouse ecosystems. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  14. Gaye M M, and Maurer A R. (1991). Modified transplant production techniques to increase yield and improve earliness of Brussels sprouts. J Amer Soc Hort Sci 116: 210-14.
  15. Gerber, J.M., I. Mohd-Khir, and W.E. Splittoesser, 1988. Row Tunnel Effects on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of Bell Pepper. Hort Science, 26(3-4):191-197.
  16. Hassan, A.A. (1999). Protected Agriculture Technology. Arab Republic of Egypt, Cairo, Academic Library. 240p.
  17. Hemphill DD. (1986). Response of muskmelon to three floating row covers. J Amer Soc Hort Sci 111: 513-17.
  18. Homedan M, and Zedan R. (2004). Production of vegetable crops. Directorate of Books and Publications, Tishreen University Publications, Faculty of Agriculture. 504 p.
  19. Ibarra, I., Flores, J. And Diaz-Perez, J. C. (2001) Growth and yield of muskmelon in response to plastic mulch and row covers. Scientia Horticulturae 87:139-145.
  20. Ken- Bar (2004). Low tunnel –hoop supported row covers. Acta Horticultrae, 491:87-91.
  21. Kumar Sanjay, Batra, Pratap Kumar Narender (2015). Early season cultivation of bottle gourd: Effect of date of sowing and growing condition on different Growth parameters. IJTA Vol.33No. 2 April- June: p- 1139-1143.
  22. Kumar, S. Kumar, A.  Singh, S.S.  Rajkishore Prasad, R. Kant, S. (2018). Effect of Plastic Low Tunnel on Flowering and Fruiting Behaviour during off Season of Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl]. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci. 7: 4829-4835.
  23. Lamarrel M, Larean MJ, Payette S, Fortin C. (1996). Influence of nitrogen fertilization, row covers and cultivars on the production of day neutral strawberry. Canadian J Soil Sci 76: 29-36.
  24. Levent A. and Ankara S. (2001). Effect of low-tunnel, mulch and pruning on the yield and earliness of tomato in unheated glasshouse. Appl. Hort., 3(1):23-27.
  25. Li, X., W. Chen, and Y. Li. 2012 Study on photosynthetic characteristics of blueberry in greenhouse. Acta Horticulturae 926:315-320.
  26. Libik A, Siwek P. (1994). Changes in soil temperature affected by the application of plastic covers in field production of lettuce and watermelon. Acta Hort 371: 269-73.
  27. Lodhi AS, Kaushal A, Singh KG. (2013). Effect of irrigation regimes and low tunnel heights on microclimatic parameters in the growing of sweet pepper. International Journal of Engineering Science Invention, 2(7): 20-29.
  28. Ogden, A.B., and M.W. Van Iersel. 2009. Southern high bush blueberry production in high tunnels: temperatures, development, yield, and fruit quality during the establishment years. Hort Science 44: 1850-1856.
  29. Olabi MM, and Al-Waree HB. (1997). Production of vegetable crops. Directorate of Books and Publications, University of Aleppo Publications, Faculty of Agriculture. 666 p.
  30. Panse, V. G. and Sukhatme, P. V. 2008. Statistical methods for Agricultural workers, 328 pp. ICAR, New Delhi.
  31. Salman, S.K., A.F. Abou-Hadid, I.M.J. Beltagy and A.S. Beltagy, 1992. Plastic House Microclimate as Affected by Low Tunnels and Plastic mulch. Egyptian J. of Hort. 2:111-119.
  32. Samra B; Sheikh Sulaiman N. (1998). Winter Vegetables Production. Directorate of Books and Publications, Tishreen University Publications, Faculty of Agriculture, 420p.
  33. Sandri, M.A., J.L. Andriolo, M. Witter, and T. Dal Rose. 2003 Effect of shading on tomato plant grows under greenhouse. Horticultuura Brasileria. 21:642-645.
  34. Singh, A. A. Syndor, B.C. Deka, R.K. Singh, and R.K. Singh, and R.K. Patel. 2012. The effect of microclimate inside low tunnels on off-season production of strawberry (Frageria x ananassa Duch.) Scientia Horticulturae 144:36-41.
  35. Singh, R. K. and Satpathy, K. K. 2005. Scope and adoption of plastic culture technology in northeast hill region. In: Agricultural mechanization in Northeast India, ICAR, Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani. Pp. 114-121.
  36. Struck-Faivor RM. (2014). Low Tunnel Strategies for Microclimate Modification and Early Vegetable Production. Thesis in Horticultural Science, Michigan State University, 85p.
  37. Thakur, N. and Devi MB. (2013). Off-Season Cultivation of Cucurbits Under Low Tunnel: A Cost-Effective Technology for Farmers of Peri-Urban Areas of Northern India. Popular Kheti, 1(1): 26-28.
  38. Wien, H.C. 2009. Microenvironmental variations within the high tunnel. Hort Science 44:235-238.
  39. Wolfe DW, Albright LD, Wyland J. (1989). Modeling row cover effects on microclimate and yield: I. Growth response of tomato and cucumber. J Amer Soc Hort Sci 114: 562-68.