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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Horticultural Production in Controlled Environment
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Horticultural Production in Controlled Environment

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Vegetable Production Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 March 2025 | Viewed by 6592

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sergio Argento

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CNR-ICB National Council of Research, Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, Via Paolo Gaifami n. 18, 95126 Catania, Italy
Interests: horticultural and flower crops; agroecosystems and environment; sustainable development of agronomy; sustainability, biodiversity and ecosystem services of cultivation systems for bioenergy; breeding and cultivation systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The cultivation of vegetables in greenhouses within a Mediterranean environment has traditionally been associated with rudimental structures characterized by reduced light transmittance, poor ventilation, and significant daily temperature fluctuations. Within this context characterized by inadequate facilities and a limited technological level, extensive manual labor is required, exhibiting low productivity levels (PLV) and frequently suffering from limited access to quality irrigation water, often high in salinity. Nowadays, these rudimentary structures are replaced by others with a level of cutting-edge technology and very high production performance, managing environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, light intensity, and duration. This shift towards advanced cropping systems reflects a broader transformation in controlled environment horticulture, with a special emphasis on inclusive approaches.

This up-coming Special Issue aims to comprehensively address the diverse facets of advanced cropping systems in the production of vegetables. We invite submissions that span a wide array of contexts, encompassing both product and process innovation. Emphasis will be placed on addressing contemporary challenges, including but not limited to climate change, the efficient use of resources, and the adoption of sustainable production practices that ensure high-quality vegetable products. Authors are encouraged to explore and present their research within the evolving landscape of controlled environment horticulture, providing insights into how these advancements address ongoing challenges. This Special Issue serves as a platform to showcase groundbreaking contributions that contribute to the evolution of vegetable production systems in response to the dynamic factors influencing modern agriculture.

Dr. Sergio Argento
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • crop productivity
  • product quality
  • sustainable production practices
  • efficient use of resources

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 1388 KiB  
Article
Impact of CO2 Enrichment on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of F1 Hybrid Strawberry Grown under Controlled Greenhouse Condition
by Mohamed Osman, Muein Qaryouti, Saif Alharbi, Budour Alghamdi, Abdulrahman Al-Soqeer, Abdulaziz Alharbi, Khalid Almutairi and Mohamed Ewis Abdelaziz
Horticulturae 2024, 10(9), 941; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10090941 - 2 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1005
Abstract
Carbon dioxide enrichment inside a greenhouse is a sustainable approach to increasing crop production worldwide. Recently, the F1 hybrid strawberry became an alternative to runner-propagated cultivation as an innovative method to shorten the production period and increase strawberry production. This work aims to [...] Read more.
Carbon dioxide enrichment inside a greenhouse is a sustainable approach to increasing crop production worldwide. Recently, the F1 hybrid strawberry became an alternative to runner-propagated cultivation as an innovative method to shorten the production period and increase strawberry production. This work aims to present CO2 enrichment as a sustainable tool that improves the yield in a controlled greenhouse and addresses the efficiency of three F1 hybrid strawberry varieties grown under Saudi Arabian conditions. A greenhouse experiment was conducted at the National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Estidamah), KSA, to study the impact of two CO2 levels (400 ppm (“ambient”) and 600 ppm (“enrichment”)) on the growth, photosynthesis traits, fruit yield and fruit quality of three F1 hybrid strawberry varieties grown under soilless culture conditions. The results show that CO2 enrichment significantly improved the phenotyping of strawberry growth traits at 60 days post-transplanting. The physiological response of the varieties to CO2 enrichment reveals a significant increase in the photosynthetic rate (129.7%) and intercellular CO2 (43.7%) in the leaves of strawberry exposed to CO2 enrichment rather than in ambient conditions, combined with a significant increase in the number of fruits per plant (27.5%) and total fruit yield (42.2%). A similar pattern was observed with varieties D and S in terms of fruit number, length and diameter. However, CO2 at 600 ppm promoted total soluble solid accumulation and vitamin C for the tested varieties. In contrast, CO2 enrichment significantly decreased nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium accumulation in the leaves of the exposed plants in comparison to 400 ppm of CO2. These results suggest that increasing CO2 enrichment could contribute to an increase in strawberry yield and nutritional value and demonstrate that understanding the response of each variety to CO2 enrichment is important to support selecting suitable greenhouse strawberry varieties to improve crop yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticultural Production in Controlled Environment)
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24 pages, 4864 KiB  
Article
Effect of Different Fertigation Scheduling Methods on the Yields and Photosynthetic Parameters of Drip-Fertigated Chinese Chive (Allium tuberosum) Grown in a Horticultural Greenhouse
by Koichi Nomura, Eriko Wada, Masahiko Saito, Shuji Itokawa, Keisuke Mizobuchi, Hiromi Yamasaki, Ikunao Tada, Tadashige Iwao, Tomihiro Yamazaki and Masaharu Kitano
Horticulturae 2024, 10(8), 794; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10080794 - 27 Jul 2024
Viewed by 596
Abstract
This study investigated the performance of four different fertigation scheduling methods in greenhouse-grown, drip-fertigated Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum) cultivation. These methods were based on (1) the use of a timer (control), (2) accumulated radiation (AR), (3) estimated evapotranspiration (ET), and (4) [...] Read more.
This study investigated the performance of four different fertigation scheduling methods in greenhouse-grown, drip-fertigated Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum) cultivation. These methods were based on (1) the use of a timer (control), (2) accumulated radiation (AR), (3) estimated evapotranspiration (ET), and (4) measured soil moisture (SM), with fertilizer application proportional to the supplied water. These methods caused considerable variations in the amount of fertigation water (I), soil volumetric water content (θ), and bulk soil electrical conductivity, leading to variations in the harvested fresh weight (FW). The SM-based method maintained the target θ and achieved the highest irrigation water productivity (WP; the ratio of FW to ΣI), while the ET-based method led to insufficient I and FW loss. The AR-based method over-fertigated, but no FW loss was observed. Compared to the WP of the control, those of the SM-, ET-, and AR-based methods varied by +1%, −14%, and −57%, respectively. Different fertigation methods did not significantly affect leaf photosynthetic capacity, but under-fertigation caused a significant decline in stomatal conductance. Compared to the ET- and AR-based methods, the SM-based method seemed to have a lower risk of under-/over-fertigation because I in the SM-based method could be adjusted according to θ. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticultural Production in Controlled Environment)
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14 pages, 13404 KiB  
Article
Resilient Response to Combined Heat and Drought Stress Conditions of a Tomato Germplasm Collection, Including Natural and Ethyl Methanesulfonate-Induced Variants
by Rocío Fonseca, Rosa Micol-Ponce, Carmen V. Ozuna, Laura Castañeda, Carmen Capel, Antonia Fernández-Lozano, Ana Ortiz-Atienza, Sandra Bretones, José M. Pérez-Jiménez, Abraham S. Quevedo-Colmena, Juan D. López-Fábregas, Teresa Barragán-Lozano, Ricardo Lebrón, Celia Faura, Juan Capel, Trinidad Angosto, Isabel Egea, Fernando J. Yuste-Lisbona and Rafael Lozano
Horticulturae 2024, 10(6), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10060552 - 24 May 2024
Viewed by 1468
Abstract
Agricultural systems are currently facing significant issues, primarily due to population growth rates in the context of global climate change. Rising temperatures cause plant heat stress and impact crop yield, which in turn compromises global food production and safety. Climate change is also [...] Read more.
Agricultural systems are currently facing significant issues, primarily due to population growth rates in the context of global climate change. Rising temperatures cause plant heat stress and impact crop yield, which in turn compromises global food production and safety. Climate change is also having a significant impact on water availability around the world, and droughts are becoming more frequent and severe in many regions. The combined effect of both heat and drought stresses increases plant damage, resulting in reduced plant development and productivity loss. Therefore, developing heat–drought-tolerant crop varieties is crucial for enhancing yield under these challenging conditions. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), a major vegetable crop highly appreciated for its nutritional qualities, is particularly sensitive to extreme temperatures, which have a significant negative impact on tomato fruit setting and cause male gametophyte abortion. In this work, a classical genetic approach was employed to identify tomato genotypes showing a resilient response to combined heat and drought stress conditions. A phenotype screening of a natural germplasm collection and an ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenized population resulted in the identification of a significant number of tomato lines tolerant to combined heat and drought conditions, specifically 161 EMS lines and 24 natural accessions as tolerant. In addition, TILLING and Eco-TILLING analyses were used as proof-of-concept to isolate new genetic variants of genes previously reported as key regulators of abiotic stress responses in different species. The identification of these variants holds the potential to provide suitable plant material for breeding programs focused on enhancing tomato resilience to adverse climate conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticultural Production in Controlled Environment)
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18 pages, 2088 KiB  
Article
Effects of Light Intensity and Photoperiod on Morphological Development and Photosynthetic Characteristics of Coriander
by Fang Wang, Qi Gao, Guangsi Ji, Jingxuan Wang, Yifeng Ding and Sen Wang
Horticulturae 2024, 10(3), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10030215 - 24 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1799
Abstract
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is prized for its aroma and medicinal properties and is extensively employed in various cuisines. Light intensity and photoperiod greatly impact its phenological development. The application of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in facility cultivation systems enables precise control of [...] Read more.
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is prized for its aroma and medicinal properties and is extensively employed in various cuisines. Light intensity and photoperiod greatly impact its phenological development. The application of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in facility cultivation systems enables precise control of lighting conditions, leading to enhanced energy efficiency in coriander cultivation. This study investigated three levels of light intensity (133, 200, and 400 μmol·m−2·s−1) and three photoperiods (8L/16D, 16L/8D, and 24L) to comprehensively assess their effects on coriander’s morphological development, photosynthetic characteristics, and energy utilization efficiency. The objective was to identify a combination conducive to efficient and energy-saving coriander cultivation in PFALs. Results indicated that high light intensity (400 μmol·m−2·s−1) with continuous lighting (24L) reduces coriander’s photosynthetic capacity, while 24-h of continuous lighting can boost yield at the expense of energy efficiency. An 8-h photoperiod significantly decreases the yield compared to 16 h. Low light intensity inhibits plant development, indicating that 133 μmol·m−2·s−1 is suboptimal. For optimal efficiency and yield, a light intensity of 200 μmol·m−2·s−1 and a 16-h photoperiod are recommended in coriander PFAL cultivation. These findings advocate for the adoption of these specific conditions for the indoor cultivation of coriander within PFAL systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticultural Production in Controlled Environment)
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Review

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26 pages, 3609 KiB  
Review
Sustainable and Low-Input Techniques in Mediterranean Greenhouse Vegetable Production
by Sergio Argento, Gresheen Garcia and Simone Treccarichi
Horticulturae 2024, 10(9), 997; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10090997 - 20 Sep 2024
Viewed by 803
Abstract
In the modern agricultural landscape, numerous challenges, such as climate change, diminishing arable lands, and the reduction of water resources, represent significant threats. The Mediterranean greenhouse farming model relies on low-input strategies to maximize both yield and quality. Its protected horticulture is essential [...] Read more.
In the modern agricultural landscape, numerous challenges, such as climate change, diminishing arable lands, and the reduction of water resources, represent significant threats. The Mediterranean greenhouse farming model relies on low-input strategies to maximize both yield and quality. Its protected horticulture is essential for the year-round cultivation of high-value crops, ensuring efficient and sustainable production. In the realm of future agricultural strategies, leveraging internet-based approaches emerges as a pivotal factor for real-time and remote control of various agricultural parameters crucial for crop growth and development. This approach has the potential to significantly optimize agronomic inputs, thereby enhancing the efficiency of targeted vegetable production. The aim of the present review is to underscore the challenges related to the intensive greenhouse production systems emphasizing various strategies leading to low-input greenhouse vegetable production. The goal is to promote more sustainable and resource-efficient approaches in the cultivation of greenhouse vegetables. This review highlights several key strategies for optimizing the greenhouse environment, including efficient water management through conservation tillage, drainage water reuse, and selecting the most appropriate irrigation systems and timing. Additionally, light modulation and temperature control—using solar energy for heating and pad-and-fan systems for cooling—are crucial for enhancing both crop performance and resource efficiency. The review also explores low-input agronomical strategies, such as pest and disease control—including solarization and optimized integrated pest management (IPM)—as well as fertilization and advanced growing techniques. These approaches are essential for sustainable greenhouse farming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticultural Production in Controlled Environment)
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