Led lighting for indoor cultivation of leafy vegetables and herbs
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: Due to the growth of urban population and to the reduction of resources availability (e.g., arable land, water and nutrients), new forms of agriculture that can be developed also in urban environment are gaining increasing popularity. This is the case of the so called vertical farms with artificial lighting (VFALs), where artificial light substitutes solar radiation and allows plants' growth. In VFALs, environmental factors (e.g., temperature, humidity, light and CO2) can be adjusted to the plant needs. By using multi-layer systems, it is possible to grow a greater number of plants per unit of cultivation area. Furthermore, by controlling environmental factors, a year-round production can be achieved. Thanks to the adoption of hydroponics systems and to the possibility to recover water lost from plant transpiration, these cultivation systems are also considered to be highly efficient in water use. Moreover, hydroponic solutions avoid run-off and leaching of mineral nutrients in soil, therefore reducing the environmental impact associated with agriculture. On the other hand, VFALs are characterized by high initial investment costs and elevated energy needs mainly associated with artificial lighting, thus the overall efficiency of the system is highly dependent on the lighting strategy. The main features that affect light management in VFALs are light composition (the light spectrum supplied by the lamps), light intensity (the light quantity expressed as ?mol m-2 s-1), and photoperiod (the number of hours of light per day). Light emitting diodes (LEDs) enables to improve light management as compared to other artificial lighting sources (e.g., high pressure or fluorescent lamps), thanks to the possibility to emit light in narrow wavebands of the spectrum, the lower surface temperature and the longer lifetime. In recent years, the main crops tested within VFAL environments were leafy vegetables and herbs, due to their small size that enables elevate plant de…
abstract: Background: Due to the growth of urban population and to the reduction of resources availability (e.g., arable land, water and nutrients), new forms of agriculture that can be developed also in urban environment are gaining increasing popularity. This is the case of the so called vertical farms with artificial lighting (VFALs), where artificial light substitutes solar radiation and allows plants' growth. In VFALs, environmental factors (e.g., temperature, humidity, light and CO2) can be adjusted to the plant needs. By using multi-layer systems, it is possible to grow a greater number of plants per unit of cultivation area. Furthermore, by controlling environmental factors, a year-round production can be achieved. Thanks to the adoption of hydroponics systems and to the possibility to recover water lost from plant transpiration, these cultivation systems are also considered to be highly efficient in water use. Moreover, hydroponic solutions avoid run-off and leaching of mineral nutrients in soil, therefore reducing the environmental impact associated with agriculture. On the other hand, VFALs are characterized by high initial investment costs and elevated energy needs mainly associated with artificial lighting, thus the overall efficiency of the system is highly dependent on the lighting strategy. The main features that affect light management in VFALs are light composition (the light spectrum supplied by the lamps), light intensity (the light quantity expressed as ?mol m-2 s-1), and photoperiod (the number of hours of light per day). Light emitting diodes (LEDs) enables to improve light management as compared to other artificial lighting sources (e.g., high pressure or fluorescent lamps), thanks to the possibility to emit light in narrow wavebands of the spectrum, the lower surface temperature and the longer lifetime. In recent years, the main crops tested within VFAL environments were leafy vegetables and herbs, due to their small size that enables elevate plant de…
author: Pennisi, Giuseppina
keywords: Hortalizas, Técnicas de cultivo hortícola, Gestión de la producción vegetal, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Vegetables, Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), Aromatics herb, Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)
date published: 2019-10
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:39:19Z
provider: Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.31428/10317/8687