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Urban Ag News Issue 15 | The Lighting Issue | October 2016
Urban Ag News Issue 15 cover story focuses on the lighting research being conducted at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Leo Marcelis, head of chair group horticulture and product physiology, talks about how university researchers are studying the effects of LED lights on the growth, flowering and fruiting of vegetable and ornamental plants in controlled environments.
Wageningen University researchers are looking at different aspects of lighting, including light spectrum and energy savings. The issues of most interest to Dutch growers include year-round production, fruit quality and energy savings.
Shalin Khosla, greenhouse vegetable specialist at Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, talks about developing the right light recipe for greenhouse vegetable crops. Canadian researchers at the Harrow Research and Development Centre are working with growers to determine which horticultural lights are the most effective and efficient for producing tall greenhouse vegetable crops.
Michigan State University hosted the 8th International Symposium on Light in Horticulture in May. This was the first time the symposium, which began in 1969, was held in the United States. Scientists, university researchers, graduate students and industry representatives from 25 countries attended the event. Michigan State horticulture professor Roberto Lopez, who was instrumental in the success of the symposium, provides insight into what occurred during the symposium.
A number of organizations and companies in and outside Panama are looking to develop El Centro de Investigación para la Producción de Agricultura en Ambiente Controlado (CIPAC), a world-class controlled environment agriculture research and development center. Representatives from some of the organizations involved with the development of CIPAC shared their insight with Urban Ag News on the work being done on this proposed CEA research center.
The people in Venezuela are in the depths of a full-blown food crisis. The Venezuelan government’s “Great Agro-Venezuela Mission” is promoting city farming, resulting in a record number of citizens growing their own food. As the country has been swamped with images of empty shelves, soul-crushing lines and food riots, government administrators are urging city dwellers to embrace urban agriculture. Officials speculate home-grown gardens could account for more than 20 percent of the food supply by 2019.
ISSUE 15 INCLUDES:
On the cover: Leo Marcelis
Director of Horticulture at Wageningen University
Determining the potential benefits of LEDs on plants
International Symposium focuses on Horticultural Lighting Research
Helping children to eat healthy — Tour de Fresh
NY SunWorks teacher receives presidential award
Developing the right light recipes for vegetable crops
Food Insecurity in Venezuela
LED Grow Lights Movement in Japan by Eri Hayashi
Panama looks to build a CEA research center
News from the Industry features these and more:
End of the Line for Hundreds of Organic Growers? – Coalition for Sustainable Organics
Collaborative approach results in Best Practice Guidelines for Greenhouse Water Management
Expanding Possibilities with e-GRO®
Japanese food producers harvest the benefits of vertical farming with special LED lighting
INUAg Awards 2016 Award Winners
Red Sun Farms achieves recognition as one of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies
Ecobain Gardens is growing with Philips
Urban Produce Looks to Hire Experienced Growers for Expansion Into Other Countries
Village Farms to host greenhouse guru marketplace at 2016 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival
Organic Farmers Should Be Allowed to Grow Organic Produce in Containers, Consumers Overwhelmingly Agree
Advanced LED lighting for plant health and protection in controlled environment agriculture
Green Sense Farms breaks Equity Crowdfunding Record
Hort Americas offers expanded variety of horticultural LED lights
The ultimate source for job openings and recruitment in the hydroponic industry
Spanish pharmaceutical giant puts Growtainer into operation
NatureFresh Farms Mobile Greenhouse Visits Mansfield
Reprints powered by Light Hort:
Blue, red, and far-red radiation interact to influence growth and pigmentation. Authors: William Meng and Erik Runkle of Michigan State University
Manipulating Sensory and Phytochemical Profiles of Greenhouse Tomatoes Using Environmentally Relevant Doses of Ultraviolet Radiation by Michael P. Dzakovich, Mario G. Ferruzzi, and Cary A. Mitchell
