Winter Greenhouse Tomato Cultivation : Matching Leaf Pruning and Supplementary Lighting for Improved Yield and Precocity
Appolloni, Elisa (Università di Bologna. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Alimentari)
Paucek, Ivan (Università di Bologna. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Alimentari)
Pennisi, Giuseppina (Università di Bologna. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Alimentari)
Manfrini, Luigi (Università di Bologna. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Alimentari)
Gabarrell Durany, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Prosdocimi Gianquinto, Giorgio (University of Bologna. Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences)
Orsini, Francesco (Università di Bologna. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Alimentari)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Solar radiation entering a high-wire tomato greenhouse is mostly intercepted by the top of the crop canopy, while the role of lower leaves diminishes with age, turning them into sink organs rather than sources. Accordingly, the defoliation of basal leaves is a widely applied agronomic practice in high-wire greenhouse cultivation management. However, the recent increase in the application of supplemental light emitting diode (LED) lighting for high-density tomato production may affect the role of basal leaves, promoting their source role for fruit development and growth. The present research aims to explore the application of supplementary LED lighting on Solanum lycopersicum cv. Siranzo in the Mediterranean area during the cold season in combination with two regimes of basal defoliation. The defoliation factors consisted of the early removal of the leaves (R) right under the developing truss before the fruit turning stage and a non-removal (NR) during the entire cultivation cycle. The lighting factors consisted of an artificial LED lighting treatment with red and blue diodes for 16 h d-1 (h 8-00) with an intensity of 180 µmol s-1 m-2 (RB) and a control cultivated under natural light only (CK). The results demonstrated a great effect of the supplemental LED light, which increased the total yield (+118%), favoring fruit setting (+46%) and faster ripening (+60%) regardless of defoliation regimes, although the increased energy prices hinder the economic viability of the technology. Concerning fruit quality, defoliation significantly reduced the soluble solid content, while it increased the acidity when combined with natural light.
Grants:	European Commission 862663
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Defoliation ; Greenhouse ; Light emitting diode (LEDs) ; Solanum lycopersicum
Published in:	Agronomy, Vol. 13, Issue 3 (February 2023) , art. 671, ISSN 2073-4395

DOI: 10.3390/agronomy13030671

12 p, 1.2 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles