A new luminescent plastic increases cranberry production in Huelva by 61%

The raspberry will increase by 14,5%. The new material will be presented to the sector next Tuesday at the technological center of Lepe's agribusiness

Up to 61 percent more production in blueberries, and a 14,5 percent in raspberry. These are the two main data that can be extracted from the validation carried out during the last agricultural campaign -2018 / 19- by the Technological Center of Agroindustry -Adesva-, on the new plastics with luminescent cover that the company Cascade Light Technologies is going to Present before farmers and other professionals in the Huelva agricultural sector this Tuesday, September 17, at the Lepe headquarters of said business association focused on research and innovation.

The relevance of these data lies, fundamentally, in the great economic importance that for the onubense field they have both red fruits.

The objective of this experimental work has been to evaluate the behavior and technical feasibility of this innovative luminescent plastic in both crops, comparing it with the conventional cover plastic commonly used in the greenhouses of Huelva. In this sense its efficiency has been evaluated, as well as its influence on the production and quality of the fruits.

The raspberry-centered study was carried out in the experimental farm of the Adesva Technology Center itself, located in Lepe, and the variety 'San Rafael' has been used for it. For its part, the validation in the case of blueberries has been carried out with the 'Ventura' variety in a commercial farm located in the municipality of Cartaya. In both cases the investigation has been carried out in conventional soil cultivation.

View from outside the Huelva countryside located in the province. / JORDI LANDERO (Huelva)

The new luminescent plastic is a technology based on the photoconversion of light by increasing the length of the spectral energy waves of sunlight, so that it adapts to the needs of the plant to improve its development.

Said plastic for greenhouses with Magic Lite technology, has been developed by the French company specializing in agricultural plastics Agripolyane, and by its supplier, Cascade Light Technologies, a company also specialized in the manufacture of additives for this type of films.

As explained to Huelva Information The researcher responsible for the study, Magdalena Torres, light is a source of energy for photosynthesis and a signal for the photomorphogenesis of the plant. The amount of light it receives, that is, the intensity, affects its photosynthesis; while the quality of light, which has to do with its distribution, affects both photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis, which results in the growth and adaptation to the light of the plant environment, affecting its shape and its flowering On the other hand, the duration of the light - or photoperiod - mainly affects flowering.

As he continues, in photosynthesis as a photochemical reaction produced in the plant's chloroplasts, light energy is used to convert atmospheric CO2 to carbohydrates. In this sense, the plants have several pigments that allow their photosynthesis such as chlorophyll and carotenoids, which capture the blue and red of the light, affecting the first color to the chlorophyll content, the number of stomata and the conductance, as well as to the thickness of the leaf and to the lengthening of the stem. On the other hand, red has a high effect on photosynthesis, leaf development, chlorophyll production and lateral branching of the leaves, as well as inhibits elongation and flowering. Finally the green of the light has a little known effect on the plant, being less absorbed by it.

Furthermore, the photoreceptors of the plant also capture the blue and red towards the infrared to perform the photomorphogenesis, which has to do with the protection of the plant to UV-B rays, as well as with the evasion of the shadow, the flowering and the movement of stomata, says Magdalena Torres.

Therefore - continues the researcher, the object of this new technology is to “increase the wavelengths of blue and red toincrease photosynthesis and photomorphogenesis”Of the plants, so that the light, instead of being lost, is transformed from one color to another. In this sense, the main characteristic of the Cascade additive for Agripolyane plastic is that “it transforms the ultraviolet light into blue light, and the green one into red, so that the plants that grow under this plastic will have more concentration of blue light and red than under standard sunlight. ”

On the other hand, photoconversion is configured, according to this expert, as “the main part of this technology, but not in the only one” since depending on the type of crop “more additives can be added in order to increase plastic technical characteristics, in addition to this effect. ”

Strawberries produced in Huelva. / JORDI LANDERO (Huelva)

It is a technology whose principle, the photoconversion"It has been investigated by a research laboratory in France for more than 25 years and that Cascade welcomed at birth in 2012 in order to improve it and make it useful for greenhouse crops, at a good price."

In this sense, technology has been tested since 2013 in a total of 104 trials both in France and in Spain, in experimental stations such as Cajamar, the University of Almería and Tecnova (Almería), the Murcian Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Development -Imida-, as well as in the Technological Center of Agribusiness -Adesva- in Lepe.

Cascade has also carried out trials in other European countries such as England and Belgium, but today these experimental works focus on France and Spain, with tests on crops of melon, watermelon, berries, cucumber, pepper and tomato.

In this sense, and with Magic Lite technology, Cascade currently offers, through Agripolyane, three types of plastic: one for melon and watermelon cultivation in greenhouses of low tunnels; another for berries in greenhouses with high tunnel structure like those in Huelva; and another double roof, specific for horticultural crops.

Source
Huelva Information

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