Portal de Cartagena
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Vertical lettuce and basil crops, on shelves and inside a heated building, is already a reality.
This is evidenced by the essays of a doctoral thesis, the first co-sponsored by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), defended at the University of Turin by Giuseppina Pennisi, one of the international PhD students.
To grow successfully, the Italian has used a combination of red and blue light with LED bulbs.
Pennisi, in his thesis, rated with the highest score: Outstanding Cum Laude, has grown leafy vegetables and edible herbs through a Plant Factory, that is, vertical agriculture.
In his research, carried out within the group of Mediterranean Hortifloricultura of the UPCT, he has used shelves in which each shelf has its own lighting.
For this he has grown the vegetables in separate shelves between 30 and 40 centimeters.
Each of them with its own lighting.
They have been made through hydroponic crops.
The new doctor has determined what is the combination of red and blue light, the optimal intensity of lighting and the optimal photoperiod to obtain maximum production and greater efficiency of resources in lettuce and basil, says the thesis's co-director, Juan Fernández , from the Plant Production area.
These crops are geared towards sustainable, responsible agricultural production and with less resource consumption.
They are designed for places where there is little space to produce food, such as Singapore, for example.
They are currently being performed in Japan.
In Murcia, experimentally, in Novagric.
The essays of the doctoral thesis 'Led lighting for indoor cultivation of leafy vegetables and herbs' have been carried out in growth chambers of the University of Bologna, the University of Wageningen (Holland) and the Institute of Plant Biotechnology of the UPCT.
Plan Factory is a concept of development and innovation that has been working for a few years within the Horizon 2020 strategic framework.
The doctoral theses are aimed at promoting and developing scientific cooperation and mobility of doctoral students.
Source: UPCT
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