Systemic design of protected cultivation structures: a cost analysis

Abstract

Protected cultivation systems are a combination of systems so assembled so as to regulate the microclimate of the crop being grown inside the system partially or fully as per the requirement of the crop species to aid its growth. The concept of protected cultivation has been for many years now and is widely taken up especially in western countries. In developing countries like India the technology has progressed slowly in the previous decades and is picking up pace recently. The technology adopted inside these cultivation structures also has improved throughout the years. With efficient water management practices like drip and sprinkler irrigation, soil moisture-lock techniques of soil solarisation and plastic mulching technologies are set to improve further. Protected cultivation structures vary in their size, construction material used and technological advancement. To construct such a structure farmer has to have a multi-factorial optimisation problem taking into account construction, cladding material, climate conditioning equipment, energy sources and management, growing substrates, water and nutrient supply, internal logistics and labour. The nature of availability of these technologies is scattered with less accessibility and availability in developing worlds due to poor demand.