Protected cultivation offers perspectives for ample, safe and sustainable food production. This does of course require greenhouses suited to the local conditions. Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture is developing the concept of the so-called ‘adaptive greenhouse’ for this purpose. This concept has recently been presented at the Global Conference on Agriculture, Food security and Climate Change in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Production of food in a greenhouse, whether a glass greenhouse, a plastic tunnel greenhouse or a net greenhouse offers chances for restricting the use of energy, water, nutrients and plant protection products. And the quality of the products may improve as result of the protected conditions. Insects, wind and rain cause less damage to the crops. This is why greenhouses can make a contribution to solving the world food problem.
Successful cultivation, however, does require a greenhouse suited to the local conditions. Market, local infrastructure and local climate determine the limiting conditions for the greenhouse. Next, the availability of sufficient water and energy are important factors as well as the fact that the greenhouse is matching the available financial means and labour.
Wageningen UR Greenhouse has now developed a tool for optimising the construction parameters and the utilisation of resources. This tool for the ‘adaptive greenhouse’ can be used to design greenhouses that are better adapted to local conditions and restrictions.