Details of the project EPI

Development of product and process innovation in the form of a system of automatic control of microclimate in plastic tunnels for strawberry crops for accelerated harvesting

01-03-2023 do 30-11-2024

3 305 138,16

EFRROW; national public funds; own funds

www.lepszatruskawka.pl

The main objective of the operation will be to develop and obtain strawberries with better parameters under controlled conditions of humidity and temperature in the tunnel, and monitoring the level of nutrient solution and its reaction will significantly improve plant growth, flowering and fruit setting. It is assumed that the fruits will have a higher weight, be firmer and more durable in the commodity market (i.e. they will remain fresh longer and be more resistant to damage). The ability to control growth conditions will not only improve the external quality of the fruit, but will also allow for higher internal quality, among other things, the content of soluble solids (extract) will increase, so the fruit will contain sugars and vitamins. Physiological parameters of plants related to the process of photosynthesis will also be improved.

The course of implementation of the operation has been planned in 3 stages. These stages include experiments that will be carried out in the laboratory, under experimental conditions, in the field and at the entrepreneur's site. They will involve: conducting performance and efficiency tests of the system under near-real operational conditions for 1 full season (March to November). The scope of work will include the development of an independent, autonomous microclimate control system for strawberry growing tunnels, which, together with the tunnel equipment, will allow the producer to maximize the time to market with his commodity, i.e. an early variety of strawberries.

In recent decades, the agricultural industry has undergone a number of significant technological changes that have raised its productivity and efficiency. However, there are still areas where technological support of the manufacturing process is at a relatively low level. Important elements of agricultural production that have a negative impact on the environment are pesticides and excessive and incorrect water use. Excessive irrigation leads to changes in soil ph or movement of nitrogen, calcium and other elements deep into the soil profile, as a result of which they are no longer available to the plant. Optimization of irrigation has a positive effect on numerous microbial processes, and for plants it increases the availability of nutrients. With irrigation, the producer has a chance to give with water exactly those nutrients for which the species' needs are highest, and water is not able to fill the deficit of a particular element in the soil. Resource efficiency and climate e

The project creates a link between research knowledge and technology (scientists from the Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences at Poznań University of Life Sciences) and the entrepreneur (Localscreens) and the Farmer. Thanks to the above fusion, i.e. the combination of R&D spheres, the intended results can be achieved. In addition, the planned project intends to carry out wide dissemination of the obtained results through marketing, but also such channels of information distribution as meetings with farmers, seminars, participation in thematic fairs, as well as publishing the results in reputable scientific and popular science magazines. Intensification of cooperation between entities in the operational group will allow effective knowledge transfer and commercialization of developed solutions, and as a result will improve the innovation of the business, science and agriculture sectors. Clearly noticeable here, therefore, is the synergistic effect that will arise from the combinat

The end result of the described activities will be: -development of a new product The operation involves controlling the humidity conditions and temperature of growing plants in the tunnel, measuring the strength and direction of the wind, and monitoring the level of nutrient solution and its pH, as well as the humidity of the substrate, which will significantly improve growth, flowering and fruit setting. - Development of a new technology to develop an independent, autonomous system of microclimate control in cultivation tunnels, which, together with tunnel equipment, will allow the producer to maximally accelerate the time of entry into the market with his commodity, i.e. an early variety of strawberries. Creation of a climate computer together with algorithms responsible for weather prediction, which, in cooperation with the mechanisms for raising and lowering tunnel foil, will allow automatic control of the microclimate inside the growing tunnels in advance, taking into account the upcoming weather changes and their impact on the crop in order to counteract the negative effects of weather changes.

agricultural production system