sustainable agriculture

Journal of Cleaner Production

The interaction between agriculture, particularly intensive greenhouse horticulture, and climate, is of dual nature. The resources required to produce crops, such as fossil fuel, affect climate change (CC), which, in turn, will backfire with altered growing conditions in the future. For instance, phenomena like heat waves and severe droughts would significantly affect management of protected cultivation systems, which would require adaptation processes. This puts greenhouse vegetable producers under high pressure, as they are required to adopt environmentally friendly production strategies. Here, we provide a comprehensive critical review of the effects of present and future CC scenarios on controlled environment agriculture as well as the mapping of climate protection measures in these environments. We examined published articles from 1990 to 2019, focused mainly on the European region and pinpointing the differences between the temperate North and the Mediterranean basin, although some research works from other regions were also considered. We recommend adaptations in terms of sufficient cooling, and improvement of natural and additional light for winter production. Technical and conceptual innovations such as the semi-/closed greenhouse based on mechanical cooling and dehumidification are discussed along with structural solutions such as passively ventilated greenhouses and screenhouses. Moreover, we recommend adaptation in terms of cultivar selection, greenhouse type, cover material, cultural practices and production technology to cope with abnormal climate alterations and extreme weather conditions associated with CC. We believe that this work will contribute to advance sustainable year-round production.

Influence of climate change on protected cultivation: Impacts and sustainable adaptation strategies - A review