I International Symposium on protected cultivation, nettings and screens for mild climates
During the 23rd and 26th of September 2024 the ‘I International Symposium on Protected Cultivation, Nettings and Screens for Mild Climates” was held in Greece in the facilities of the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) under the auspices of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS).
The symposium incorporated two symposia, the “XII International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates” and the “II International Symposium on Nettings and Screens in Horticulture”. The incorporation of the two symposia into one was adopted because it provided the opportunity to the relevant specialists in protected cultivation of vegetables and ornamentals, as well as in use of netting and screens in horticulture, to meet and present their research innovations, to share ideas and knowledge and to discuss the current status and future perspectives of protected cultivation and use of netting and screens in regions with mild winter climatic conditions like the Mediterranean Climate.
The main topics of the symposium were:
- Greenhouse technologies for mild climatic conditions
- Climate control in greenhouses and screenhouses
- Propagation, nurseries and genetic material
- Nets and screens in agriculture
- Organic cropping in protected environment
- Biostimulants and other non-chemical means to increase resilience to biotic and abiotic stress in greenhouses and screenhouses
- Plant nutrition and irrigation
- Horticultural substrates & soilless culture
- Biowaste management and circular greenhouse cropping systems
The symposium received in total 145 abstracts, from which 126 were accepted to be presented as oral or poster presentations. More than 140 participants from 26 countries all over the world visited Greece and attended the symposium. The 5 countries with the most symposium participants were: Greece, Italy, Spain, China and Japan. The huge variety of participants from all over the world and especially from countries with Mediterranean climate indicated the importance of holding an international symposium focused on the new perspectives and technologies on greenhouses and nethouses.
Figure 1. Oral presentation of Prof. Savvas (convener). Chairmen: A. Pardossi (left), R. Thompson (right).
The symposium was divided into 9 Oral Sessions where 44 presentations were held and 6 poster sessions consisting of 65 poster presentations. The topic with the most oral presentation submissions was the “Climate control in greenhouses and screenhouses”, while the topic with the most poster presentation submissions was the “Plant nutrition & irrigation”. The high scientific interest on the above topics highlights that, nowadays, the main focus area on the protected cultivation sector are the advanced climate, nutrition and irrigation control, through novel technologies mainly by using sensors and artificial intelligence. The use of LED lighting, climate sensors and shade nets, seems to be significantly important for maintaining optimal climate conditions in regions with Mild Climates. Plant nutrition and irrigation has also an increasing research trend due to the development of novel DSS systems for supporting farmers regarding the water and nutrient needs and the increased importance of optimal water and nutrient use to maintain high productivity in greenhouses and concomitantly reduce the water and nutrient losses.
Figure 2. Presentation of E-poster by M. Kim. Session Chairman: I. Karavidas.
Nowadays, posters presentations are evolving, trying to be more appealing for participants to watch and participate during a conference or a symposium. During the I International Symposium on Protected Cultivation, Nettings and Screens for Mild Climates, posters were displayed electronically as E-posters on screens. Every day, two separate and time-parallel poster sessions were held and participants who wish to present their posters had a 5 minute time period for their presentation and the Q&A.
Figure 3. Group photo during the hosted tour at the experimental facilities of AUA. Soilless greenhouse facility.
During the 2nd day of the symposium, attendees had also the opportunity to visit the experimental greenhouses of the Laboratory of Vegetable Production at the Agricultural University of Athens. There, the laboratory Ph.D. candidates demonstrated the ongoing experiments at open field crops, greenhouse soil crops and greenhouse soilless crops. The laboratory of Vegetable Production of AUA is currently studying a huge variety of vegetable crops such as tomato, cucumber, lettuce, broccoli etc. Soilless crops include open and closed-loop hydroponic systems on substrates or directly on water tanks. One particular scientific focus nowadays is to develop novel Decision Support Systems (DSS) aiming to support farmers concerning the nutrient management of crops. These systems are also oriented to be user-friendly for farmers in order to be easily adopted for their crop management.
Figure 4. Experiment demontration during the hosted tour at the experimental facilities of AUA. Soil grown greenhouse tomato crop.
The I International Symposium on Protected Cultivation, Nettings and Screens for Mild Climates hosted also a technical one-day tour to greenhouse facilities nearby the city of Athens where state of the art technology is used by greenhouses to produce vegetables and nursery plants. More specifically, during the technical tour, symposium attendees visited i) a high-tech greenhouse producing leafy greens using the Moving Gutters Systems (MGS) technology (Fig. 6), ii) a plant nursery where self-rooted and grafted vegetables are produced and iii) a well-advanced greenhouse with eggplant grown on soilless conditions.
Figure 5. Hosted tour to leafy vegetable greenhouse with MGS (Moving gutter system).
All research studies which were presented during the symposium are currently peer reviewed and will be published at Acta Horticulturae latest volume. You can find more information on the symposium website https://promicli.athens2024.org or in the hashtag #Netmc24 and of course, stay tuned for the next Sumposium!
Main image
Symposium Photo with all participants. Venue: Agricultural Unicersity of Athens.
Source
Author: Dr. Panagiotis Kalozoumis, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855, Athens, E-mail: kalozoumis@aua.gr
