Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience was not addressed until Y3 of the project. After setting up the laboratory facilities, groups (i.e., high school students, UPRM students, Extension Agents, farmers) were invited to visit. Open visitation stopped as the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up. Currently, only UPR students invited to work at the lab are permitted. Although the funded project officially closed in mid-2021, work at the facility continues. Two additional undergraduate students worked with the technology during the Fall 2021-2022 term. Furthermore, a Special Topics course with five additional students is planned for Spring 2021-2022 to continue researching the technology and the required changes to grow typical crops. Changes/Problems:This project started with the need to change one of the Co-PIs who moved to administrative duties and could not support the project. The new selected Co-PI was not really committed to the project and had to be replaced as well. The time and effort dedicated to these endeavors somewhat dilute the energies invested in the initial phases of the project. It was when the last Co-PI joined the team, that a suitable location could be identified for the establishment of the ICP Lab. A major problem during year 1 was the impact of hurricane Maria on the island that resulted in the collapse of electric power, communication, University activities, and other required services. The event delayed commencement activities of the project, but still allowed to identify and refurbish the ICP Lab site by end of Y1. As site completion seemed on the horizon, Y2 initiated with the acquisition process of ICP systems. However, there were complications. The first system wasn't as plug-and-play as expected and required additional work to integrate systems. Also, the supplier of the second commercial system was reluctant to sell to the University and eventually forced the decision to seek an alternative system and causing further delays. Experiments finally started with Y3. Trained student labor left the project at the beginning of year 3 and new labor had to be recruited and trained (every semester henceforth). Since new Y3 labor were non-ag major (i.e., economy major and a friend from physical education), this event had a significant impact on the success of preliminary runs and commencement of experiments during the first half of year 3. Future student selection limited to agricultural sciences undergraduates to speed up the learning curve. Also, environmental factors (i.e., seismic activity and COVID-19 pandemic) impaired project activities during the second half of year 3. Consequently, successful experimental runs could not be achieved, but data serve to establish a production baseline. As a result, a no-cost extension was requested to enable Y4 of the project. Despite distancing limitations imposed by COVID, experimentation resumed during Y4 and allowed data gathering on Tropicana lettuce production. Although limited by COVID restrictions, Y4 was productive and uneventful (compared to previous years) and allowed goal completion. Funding expenditure was limited by lab activities. Initial project plans estimated two years of plant production and data gathering, with the required student labor. However, the many delays and external events, limited experiments to roughly one year with a minimal amount of student involvement. There is still much to be done, but this funded project needs closure. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. Aside from student involvement in site refurbishing activities during Y1 and early Y2, objective 1 provided little opportunities for training or professional development. • Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. In retrospect, training activities related to objective 2 started during Y2 with the installation of the multilayer system. Our commercial ICP systems arrived as stand-alone units, but integration to a larger facility required some doing. Piping and associated tanks for nutrient solution mixing and delivery to the various systems needs to be designed per site. Installation instructions provided by equipment manufacturers are scarce and unclear. Experience working the systems led to identification of improvement opportunities for both, equipment installation and operational strategies. All students (and investigators) working at the ICP Lab had the chance to experience the systems beyond the beauty of the technology. One of the PIs and an undergraduate student attended the Indoor AgCon at Las Vegas, Nevada, during Y2. Attending the conference strived to establish network relations and get insight information on the latest technology and practice developments in Indoor Ag before starting experimentation. This experience was key to systems setup. They also learned about changes to the LED systems taking place. New light systems offer spectrum control (adjustable to meet plant growth needs) and provide more uniform "white" color. • Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Objective 3 started in Y3 before with preliminary runs that serve to establish a production baseline. After being halted by external factors (i.e., seismic events and the COVID pandemic) during the second half of Y3, activity resumed (with limitations) during Y4. During the first half of Y5 (i.e., after funded project closing date), two new undergraduate students worked the system on cilantro and produced baseline information. Their work will continue during the second half of Y5 with around 5 new undergraduate students. Moving forwards, the project PI plans to continue opening undergraduate research opportunities every semester. • Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. Activity for objective 4 initiated during Y3. An undergraduate student worked on the economic analysis of ICP. Further work is still required on this objective. Moving forward (after project's closure), the PI plans to continue fine tunning the economic tool involving undergraduate students and based of ICP gathered data. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dissemination efforts started on Y3 with an oral presentation by investigator Linares at the SOPCA Annual Meeting (December 2019). During 2019 (i.e., April and December), over 350 visitors (i.e., high school students, UPRM students, Extension Agents, farmers) came to the ICP Lab. The 2020 external events (i.e., seismic activity and the COVID pandemic) have since limited physical access to the Lab. Nonetheless, the ICP Lab was mentioned during a training effort to hydroponic farmers and future hydroponics farmers in early Y4. Some of those farmers were already considering investing in ICP alternatives currently being offered for sale in Puerto Rico. Interest sparked the generation of a WhatsApp group with 33 members (including the project's PI) who are current hydroponics farmers or future farmers interested in indoor agriculture. The purpose of the chat is to share experiences and learnings from the ICP Lab, as well as those of farmers adopting the technology. Finally, during the second half of Y4 (i.e., April 2021), the ICP Lab facility was recognized and inaugurated by PR's Secretary of Agriculture, together with the Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and the Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the Final Report of the funded project. As such, there are no additional plans to accomplish goals as part of the project. However, work at the ICP Lab is far from over. The project's PI plans to continue working at the Lab with undergraduate students to gather better understanding of this new technology and its potential uses. Research will also include other crops beyond Tropicana lettuce (although Tropicana lettuce still requires more practice to get consistent results). Current students working in Y5 initiated cilantro production with the multilayer system only and already identified product and technology issues not previously noticed with lettuce. Yet, more work is required with the vertical system since the currently available commercial alternatives in Puerto Rico's market are container type farms with vertical configuration systems. With each run, we get better understanding of the technology and the changes required to grow crops compared to typical NFT hydroponic systems (i.e., the most common configuration in PR). We are now starting to get enough data to draw meaningful results, including resource requirement data needed to validate the economic tool. Of course, information must be disseminated and made available to farmers. We still need to develop a formal communication channel. Plans are on the way to generate a web page where stakeholders can literally see the facilities and what is going on, look at data, and read recommendations and lessons learned. Achievement of such goals will probably be included as part of a future research proposal.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. The originally identified site for project's development could not be pursued due to administrative reasons. An alternative site for the development of the Indoor Crop Production (ICP) Lab, the old Tilapia Processing facility, was identified at the Lajas Agricultural Experiment Station (AES). Yet, such facility proved to be excessively large and deteriorated for the intended purpose and available funds. Further search identified a storage area at the Lajas AES that could serve as the proper location for the ICP Lab. Refurbishing work at the identified location included removing existing furniture and other stored materials, applying a termite treatment, painting the interior with a washable epoxy paint, upgrading the electricity and water supplies, and restoring the exteriors to receive the target audience during future outreach and training events. Objective 1 was completed during Y2 with the installation of the A/C unit and a glass partition that separates visitors from productive areas. Later, during the second part of Y4, the ICP was officially inaugurated and ethernet connection was added to enable display of ICP lab conditions and parameters on a web page (i.e., a future improvement). • Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. Equipment incidental to ICP technology (i.e., hand washing station, sink, tables, racks, A/C unit) were acquired and installed during Y1. The first ICP equipment, a multilevel hydroponic system, arrived in late Y1. Although assembly of the system was easy, installation required the addition of external tanks and associated piping. Installation of the multilevel systems ended during Y2. Acquisition of the second equipment, the vertical aeroponic system, was troublesome as the supplier was reluctant to sell to a university (even though we explained the research focused on understanding and adopting the technology to provide recommendations to farmers). Thus, an alternative vertical hydroponic system was identified and acquired. Also, a system controller was identified and acquired during Y2 to automate environmental conditions, lighting and nutrient solution concentration and flow through the hydroponic systems. Installation of all equipment was completed by end of Y2 (i.e., June 2019) to fulfill Objective 2. However, Y3 activities evidenced the need to perform several adjustments and modifications to the implemented configuration to prevent frequent overflow events and facilitate the cleaning process, among other changes. • Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Activities for objective 3 could not be initiated until completion of objective 2 at the end of Y2. Two preliminary runs executed during the first half of year 3 yielded disappointing data. However, results help to establish a production base line and to identify improvement opportunities on equipment configuration and production strategy. In terms of lettuce production, there were several observations worth noting. - The multilayer system performed better in terms of plant size (i.e., 20.0 vs. 11.4 cm) and weight (i.e., 89.0 vs. 11.70 g), but product variability was greater than in the vertical system (i.e., weight standard deviation 42.8 vs. 11.0 g). - Plants were ready for harvest about a week to 10 days earlier than in regular hydroponic systems. - Transplanting to the vertical system appeared to require more mature plants (i.e., older) than the multilayer system. For the second half of Y3, environmental factors (i.e., seismic activity and COVID-19 pandemic) impaired progress in objective 3. Activity resumed for Y4 with new undergraduate students working the systems with lettuce for 7 consecutive runs. In summary, the following technology related findings are of greater importance. - Germination rate was better in oasis or cocopeat (98%) compared to foam (52%). - Decreasing room temperature negatively impacts plant weight (e.g., 43.4 g at 22.2 ºC, 52.8 g at 23.9 ºC, 73.3 g at 26.7 ºC for the multilayer system). Interestingly, the vertical system exhibited weight increased at the lower temperatures (i.e., from 42.0 to 55.2 g), but the lowest weight (i.e., 26.2 g) at the highest temperature. - Plant height also increased with room temperature, with the multilayer system yielding higher plants compared to the vertical arrangement. It must be noted, however, that increasing temperature from 23.9 to 26.7 ºC had no effect on the multilayer. Apparently, plant growth is impaired by the distance between systems layers and their proximity to the LED lights. - By the fifth experimental run, vertical system tubing and nozzle required repairs and adjustments. Also, as plants grew in that system, the nutrient solution dripped from the plant to the floor. - Plant harvest took place about 4 weeks after transplanting. Only at the higher room temperature, the 4-week period proved excessive. - There was no plant gain by increasing the illumination period from 12 to 18 hours. Following are the most important findings related to Tropicana lettuce production under evaluated ICP systems. - The distance to the LED lights limits vertical plant growth. Such finding is of significance as length of commercially available (hydroponically grown) Tropicana lettuce is longer than the bed-to-lights distance of ICP systems. As a result, plants grew wider. Maximum average plant length achieved were 21.5 cm for the multilayer system and 20.0 cm for the vertical system. - Since plant vertical growth was limited, plant weight increased with distance between plants for both systems. Maximum average plant weight achieved (during experimental runs) were 74.4 g for the multilayer system and 95.7 g for the vertical system. - There were no insects, fungi or diseases observed in plants for any of the production runs. - Plants were harvested about 4 weeks after transplanting, when they mature. Since lab activity days were limited by student availability, harvest had to wait for a day or two. Consequently, plant development continued and impacted flavor (informal observations). - Cleaning is the most human resource intensive activity. - Maximum weight achieved was about 150 g for both systems. - Maximum height achieved was 30.5 cm for the multilayer system and 20.5 cm for the vertical system. For Y5 (i.e., after funded project's closure), students work on cilantro production. Preliminary data showed the importance of two factors not previously considered for Tropicana lettuce. High relative humidity in the room led to tip burn. Also, plant growth appeared to be affected by low CO2 levels. • Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. Activity for objective 4 started during Y3 of the funded project. An economy major student was recruited to work at the Lab and gather the necessary data. A spreadsheet-based tool was drafted to model technology feasibility. The tool still requires work and must be validated with more data and compared against costs of a typical hydroponic system. Nonetheless, it provides the following insight into the cost structure of the technology and the required improvement area. - The multilayer system has higher energy and floor space requirements than the vertical system. Still, the effective plant density of the multilayer at the better performing spacing (12.7 vs. 5 plant sites/sqft) causes costs to be less than half. - Estimated production costs were $1.42 for the multilayer system and $3.24 for the vertical system. - As expected, the main contributor to operating costs is energy with an average of $92.5 per growing cycle ($3.8/sqft). The second team, expected to continue work in the tool during Y4, did not arrive due to COVID restrictions.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
A. Linares-Ram�rez, M. Rosario and F. Perez. VERTICAL INDOOR CROP PRODUCTION: A LEARNING PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES. Oral presentation at the SOPCA Annual Meeting. December 6, 2019. San Juan, PR
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:High school students, UPRM students, Extension Agents, farmers. Changes/Problems:Trained student labor left the project at the beginning of year 3. New labor had to be recruited and trained. This event had a significant impact on the success of preliminary runs and commencement of experiments during the first half of year 3. Also, environmental factors (i.e., seismic activity and COVID-19 pandemic) impaired project progress during the second half of year 3. Consequently, successful experimental runs could not be achieved, and no significant data collected. As the project moves into year 4 (under no-cost extension) the team prepares to initiate experiments and add additional resources to achieve goals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?• Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. None during year 3. • Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. Student labor changed during year 3. Two new students trained. • Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Opportunities limited to the research team who worked the preliminary experimental runs. • Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. An undergraduate student worked on the economic analysis of ICP. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?• Over 350 visitors (i.e., high school students, UPRM students, Extension Agents, farmers) to the ICP Lab between April and December 2019. • Investigator Linares performed an oral presentation at the SOPCA Annual Meeting during December 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?• Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. No activities. Objective completed. • Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. No activities. Objective completed. • Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Currently working to resume experimentation with ICP equipment during August 2020. An experimental design will be conducted on each system to evaluate the effects of environmental temperature, lighting strategy (i.e., duration), and irrigation schedule on agronomic aspects of production (i.e., water and nutrient uptake, growth, incidence of pests and diseases). Data will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods before drawing conclusions and recommendations. • Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. Once experimental runs start yielding results, data will be used to validate the economic feasibility tool and estimate other economic indicators. A second team will be independently assigned to work the problem in parallel in order to advance model validation.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
• Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. Objective 1 completed during year 2. • Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. Objective 2 completed during year 2. Minor improvements identified and implemented during year 3. • Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Preliminary runs executed during the first half of year 3 yielding disappointing results that identified the need to make further improvements to equipment configuration and production strategy. Environmental factors (i.e., seismic activity and COVID-19 pandemic) impaired progress during second half of year 3. • Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. A spreadsheet-based tool drafted to model technology feasibility. The tool still requires work and must be validated with data from experimental runs.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
A. Linares-Ram�rez, M. Rosario and F. Perez. VERTICAL INDOOR CROP PRODUCTION: A LEARNING PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES. Oral presentation at the SOPCA Annual Meeting. December 6, 2019. San Juan, PR
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:No target audience served during year 2. Changes/Problems:Complications with acquiring and installing the second commercial system and system controller delayed experiment initiation. To catch-up to proposed timeline, Objectives 3 and 4 will be worked concurrently during year 3. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. One of the PIs and an undergraduate student attended the Indoor AgCon at Las Vegas, Nevada. Attending the conference strived to establish network relations and get insight information on the latest technology and practice developments in Indoor Ag before starting experimentation. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. No activities. Objective completed. Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. No activities. Objective completed. Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Experimentation with ICP equipment will commence using the local lettuce variety. Since this crop is well understood, it will allow us to understand the adjustments required on management practices by the ICP technology. Specimens of infested plants, if any, will be sent to the Plant Disease Clinic at the UPRM's Juana Díaz Experimental Station. Lab recommendations will be executed, in as much as possible, always striving to avoid pesticide application. Required agronomic and system data will be collected to determine water and nutrient uptake, optimal growth temperature, and lighting and irrigation strategies to maximize growth and crop yield. An experimental design will be conducted on each system to evaluate the effects of environmental temperature, lighting strategy (i.e., duration), and irrigation schedule on agronomic aspects of production (i.e., water and nutrient uptake, growth, incidence of pests and diseases). Data will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods before drawing conclusions and recommendations. Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. Fix and operating cost data will be collected, as well as yield data, to perform the corresponding analysis and determine feasibility (i.e., benefit-cost ratio) of the technology. The expected result is a deep understanding of the cost structure that allows identification of limiting factors and opportunity areas.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. Objective 1 was completed with the installation of the partition to separate visitors from productive areas. Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. The proposed aeroponic system could not be acquired as the supplier did not want to establish commercial relations with the University. A second system (i.e., vertical hydroponic system) was identified and acquired. Also, a system controller was identified and acquired to automate environmental conditions, lighting and nutrient solution concentration and flow through the hydroponic systems. Installation of all equipment was completed during June 2019. Objective 2 is now complete. Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Activity start-up delayed waiting for arrival and installation of second system and controller. Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. No activities to date.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:UPRM undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, researchers, and extension agents; farmers. Changes/Problems:A major problem during year 1 was the impact of hurricane Maria on the island that resulted in the collapse of electric power, communication, University activities, and other required services. The event delayed commencement activities of the project, but overall project time-line was not significantly impacted. No further complications foreseen at this time. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?• Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. As an added biosecurity measure, investigators want to install a glass partition inside the ICP Lab that separates the visitor's area from the work area. The partition will allow full visibility of the work area activities while limiting access to pests and diseases. We are in the quote process and expect to have the partition installed before commencing experiments. Also, there is some electrical and plumbing work to be completed that is pending the arrival and installation of ICP equipment. Electrical and plumbing should be completed before experiments start in September 2018. • Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. Installation of the multilevel hydroponic system should be completed by September 2018. Acquisition and installation of the second ICP system (i.e., vertical hydroponic system) should be completed by October 2018. • Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. Experimentation with ICP equipment will commence using the local lettuce variety. Since this crop is well understood, it will allow us to understand the adjustments required on management practices by the ICP technology. Specimens of infested plants, if any, will be sent to the Plant Disease Clinic at the UPRM's Juana Díaz Experimental Station. Lab recommendations will be executed, in as much as possible, always striving to avoid pesticide application. Required agronomic and system data will be collected to determine water and nutrient uptake, optimal growth temperature, and lighting and irrigation strategies to maximize growth and crop yield. An experimental design will be conducted on each system to evaluate the effects of environmental temperature and humidity, and lighting strategy (i.e., duration, blue-red switching) on agronomic aspects of production (i.e., water and nutrient uptake, growth, incidence of pests and diseases). Data will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods before drawing conclusions and recommendations. • Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. Fix and operating cost data will be collected, as well as yield data, to perform the corresponding analysis and determine feasibility (i.e., benefit-cost ratio) of the technology. The expected result is a deep understanding of the cost structure that allows identification of limiting factors and opportunity areas.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
• Objective 1: Upgrade the identified site's infrastructure. The originally identified site for project's development could not be pursued due to administrative reasons. An alternative site for the development of the Indoor Crop Production (ICP) Lab, the old Tilapia Processing facility, was identified at the Lajas Agricultural Experiment Station (AES). Yet, such facility proved to be excessively large and deteriorated for the intended purpose and available funds. Further search identified a storage area at the Lajas AES that could serve as the proper location for the ICP Lab. Refurbishing work at the identified location included removing existing furniture and other stored materials, applying a termite treatment, painting the interior with a washable epoxy paint, and restoring the exteriors to receive the target audience during future outreach and training events. • Objective 2: Acquire and install the necessary technology for ICP. Equipment incidental to ICP technology (i.e., hand washing station, sink, tables, racks, A/C unit) have already been acquired. Installation is in-progress and expected to conclude end by end of August. The first ICP equipment, a multilevel hydroponic system, arrived to site and is being installed. Acquisition of the second equipment, the vertical aeroponic system, has been troublesome as the supplier has been reluctant to sell the equipment needed for the project. Yet, an alternative vertical hydroponic system has already been identified and quoted. Purchase order will be processed as soon as the end-of-fiscal-year activities end, and the purchasing system reopens (i.e., mid-August). • Objective 3: Evaluate the production of the most consumed and produced lettuce variety in Puerto Rico (i.e., Tropicana) under ICP. No activities to date. • Objective 4: Perform a (economic) feasibility assessment of ICP. No activities to date.
Publications
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