Greenhouse Technology and Management - Softcover

Greenhouse cultivation has expanded in recent decades with increased demand for horticultural production. This book covers current technologies and management practices of general greenhouse production, with a particular emphasis on plastic greenhouses and vegetable growing. The author begins by addressing the natural greenhouse microclimate, in the context of managing greenhouse systems such as ventilation, cooling, heating, carbon dioxide enrichment, light management, crop physiology, greenhouse design and construction criteria. The book then moves on to cover other issues of greenhouse management including irrigation and fertilization, soil and substrate cultivation, plant protection, regulation, economic analysis, environmental impact, and post-harvest, production strategies and marketing. Providing an integrated approach to greenhouse production this practical text aims to provide clear advice on optimising the yield and quality of crops grown under greenhouse conditions.

Agricultural Engineer and PhD (Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain). MBA (University Comillas, Spain). Research Coordinator in IFAPA ("Institute for Agricultural Research and Training", Andalusia, Spain). Involved in R&D activities in protected and semiprotected horticulture. Leader of the research group on Horticulture (PAIDI, Andalusian Research Plan, Spain). European Union and FAO expert in protected cultivation. Past-president of Spanish (CEPLA) and International Committees for Plastics in Agriculture (CIPA). He has directed various horticulture technical journals, diverse PhD studies and numerous R&D projects on protected cultivation. Associate editor and reviewer of several Spanish and international scientific journals. Author of many scientific and technical papers, chapters and books on protected horticulture. Convener, member of the Organizing and Scientific Committees and key- speaker of diverse scientific and technical international Congresses and Symposia. Since 2006, chairperson of the Protected Cultivation Commission in the ISHS (International Society for Horticultural Science).