RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION IN CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1021720
• Multistate No.: NE-1835
• Project Start Date: Nov 22, 2019
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2023
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001

Performing Department
Dallas-TAMU Agr Res Cntr

Non Technical Summary
Agriculture is threatened by its sensitivity to climate change and irregular weather patterns. Accurate projection of yields and harvest time are essential to pair production with market demands and forecast financial margins. In controlled environment agriculture (CEA), farmers can closely control most aspects of the growing environment and adjust production to weather and market fluctuations. The ability to control environmental and agricultural inputs results in increased resource efficiency per production area and reduced shrinkage compared with outdoor field production. Hence optimized efficiency and use of low-cost alternative resources is fundamental for the successful future of CEA operations. Adaptation to climate change to overcome potential risks demands strategies that match current and projected conditions.CEA is an economically important sector in agriculture in the U.S. Despite the economic crisis in 2008, the USDA Census reported that the number of operations and sales in specialty crops increased by 7.5% and 17%, respectively, from 2009 to 2014. IBISWorld reported that the hydroponic industry is on the growth stage in the market, which is characterized by many new companies entering the market, rapid technology change, growing acceptance by consumers, and rapid introduction of products and brands. CEA is particularly important in northern climates where year-round production is only possible in protected agriculture, and in urban areas where space is limited.Over the last decade, new technologies have emerged in the industry with the potential to provide growers with alternatives to improve production efficiency and profit margins. However, science-based guidelines are needed for growers to make informed-decisions about the feasibility of implementing these technologies in their operations. Growers can achieve consistent production (i.e. increase crop cycles per year, reduce time from seed to harvest, and improve flowering regulation) by reducing temporal and spatial variation in the greenhouse environment. We believes that sensors and control strategies are essential for efficient production in CEA operations. CEA production systems range in technological complexity from high tunnels to highly controlled environments (e.g. plant factories). Strategies to control fertilization, irrigation, heating, cooling, and lighting will vary by CEA production systems. We aim to work with the whole range of CEA operations.Heating, cooling and lighting options determine energy consumption and are strongly correlated with plant growth rate. Therefore, the efficiency of heating, cooling, and lighting have a direct impact in the bottom-line of businesses. Fan performance and ventilation alternatives to achieve homogeneous temperatures and humidity, temperature prediction models using thermal environment in high tunnels and greenhouses, and alternative lighting wavelengths, intensity and duration can be used to regulate plant growth and maximize outputs (production) per input (energy).Water management is closely tied to nutrient management, particularly in greenhouse production where plants receive nutrients via fertigation. Automated-irrigation scheduling using sensor-based set-point irrigation has the potential to reduce water volume significantly. Despite the low-cost of water, we anticipate that economic benefits may result in terms of reduced labor, fertilizer injection, and disease incidence. Fertilizer reduction can also lower the environmental impact related to fertilizer runoff into natural habitats, and fertilizer mining and processing. CEA facilities can be designed or easily retrofitted to maximize water use efficiency, while at the same time minimize or eliminate leachate from contaminating the outdoor environment (e.g., recirculating ebb and flood irrigation). We propose to determine set-point irrigation control of different irrigation species in propagation and evaluate how alternatives substrates and water sources impact water use in container production.Heating, cooling and lighting options determine energy consumption and are strongly correlated with plant growth rate. Therefore, the efficiency of heating, cooling, and lighting have a direct impact in the bottom-line of businesses. Fan performance and ventilation alternatives to achieve homogeneous temperatures and humidity, temperature prediction models using thermal environment in high tunnels and greenhouses, and alternative lighting wavelengths, intensity and duration can be used to regulate plant growth and maximize outputs (production) per input (energy).In 2017, the National Organic Standard Board voted to allow USDA Organic certification of hydroponic production systems. This news provides CEA operations a gateway to a growing market. However, high efficiency in organic greenhouse production in not possible yet. Matching nutrient availability with crop demand is a major challenge in organic greenhouse production, which can have negative effects in plant quality and productivity. Nutrient release from organic compounds is linked to microbial activity, hence associated with environmental conditions and cultural practices that affect microbiological processes. We propose to develop nutrient release curves of organic-sources of fertilizer under multiple environmental conditions and provide recommendations on how to improve predictability of nutrient release.Even though the U.S. is a pioneer in CEA, there is still a lot of room for resource optimization. For example, the water footprint global average (gal per pound) for tomato production is 25.6, the average in the U.S. is 15.2 which is 15 times more than the average in the Netherlands where the majority of crops are grown in greenhouses. Our team believes that optimization of resources used in CEA can result in significant reduction of agricultural inputs (water, fertilizer, and energy), increased production efficiency (days to harvest, crops per year, yields per square foot greenhouse), and lowered production costs.

Animal Health Component

60%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

40%

Applied

60%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
203	2410	1020	100%

Knowledge Area
203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;

Keywords

herbs and leafy greens

value-added vegetables

hydroponics

nutrient solution recycle

alternative water

phytochemicals

Goals / Objectives
Objective 1. To evaluate and develop strategies to improve energy efficiency in controlled environment agriculture. Objective 2. To reduce fresh water use and evaluate alternative fertilizers and growing substrates for the production of greenhouse crops. Objective 3. To train growers and students to utilize emerging controlled environment agriculture technologies.

Project Methods
Objective 1. Evaluate and develop strategies to improve energy efficiency in controlled environment agriculture.We will study several approaches to improve energy efficiency in controlled environment agriculture with a focus on lighting and temperature control.TX will collaborate with other states to determine energy efficacy of commercial lighting systems. Several commercially available horticultural LEDs are on the market but their energy efficiency varies widely. The best fixtures are twice as efficient as the lowest efficiency fixtures. LED fixtures also vary in their light spectrum with two typical approaches: 1) primarily red/blue light in different ratios and 2) broad spectrum (white) light (obtained from phosphor-coated blue LEDs). The ratio of red/blue can impact plant height and yield. Supplemental lighting, the need and amount, for TX climate will differ from those in other northern states. Also, instead of heating the whole greenhouse, we will investigate if rootzone heating would be sufficient to save energy.We will develop dynamic light recipes to improve crop growth rate and quality (morphology and phytochemical content) in indoor production systems. Most research has focused on characterizing plant responses when exposed to a single light recipe (static spectrum). We will contribute by researching and the matching spectrum to the different plant growth stages (lag, log, and plateau) to maximize output (nutrient, flavor, growth) and improve system energy efficiency. We called this thedynamic spectrum. This research project is focused on finding dynamic light recipes to improve lettuce growth and quality.In addition, we will incorporate temperature control strategies. Most indoor farming has a constant temperature setting. We will investigate how different temperatures (stage and day and night temperature combinations) would affect growth and quality such as sugar and acid contents which are related to flavor.We aim to improve environmental optimization to increase phytochemicals in non-commercial plant species. The objective of this research program is to increase the affordability of Vertical farm products by providing more nutritionally dense produce by significantly increasing the phytochemical contents and biomass accumulation while reducing the resource inputs. We will characterize the responses of exotic germplasms grown under optimized indoor conditions in hopes to have a greater content of beneficial phytochemicals than commercial cultivars.Objective 2: Reduce fresh water use and evaluate alternative fertilizers and growing substrates for the production of greenhouse crops.TX will work with other states to develop alternatives to preserve fresh water use for production of greenhouses by studying irrigation methods to reduce fresh water use, treatment options to use low-quality water, reuse of nutrient solution as long as possible to reduce water and fertilizer wastes and enhance conditions to promote beneficial microbiomes.Several commercially available conventional and organic hydroponic nutrient solutions will be tested for production of greenhouse leafy greens and fruit-bearing crops. Daily pH and EC measurements and periodic nutrient solution elemental analysis will be taken to determine potential for salt buildup and nutrient imbalances of the given crops. Based on initial findings, one conventional and one organic nutrient solution will be further tested for hydroponic lettuce grown using nutrient film technique (NFT). Different strategies for nutrient management (frequencies of replacing nutrient solution) will be undertaken to test several salt thresholds for nutrient solution replenishment and impact on crop yield.We will study the microbial activity in hydroponic solutions. We will evaluate if microbes in the solution can be primed to accelerate nitrification, used to improve nutritional quality of the crop for human consumption and resistance to plant diseases. We will develop best nutrient management practices for hydroponic and bioponic production systems and provide growers with crop production options that will improve yield, quality, and profitability, while significantly reducing fertilizer use and minimizing discharge. Our activities include reducing the use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, determining the efficiency of open and closed systems, enhancing food safety, and conducting cost-benefit analysis in different production scenarios.We will develop best nutrient management strategies for economically and environmentally viable hydroponic and bioponic food-production systems. The proposed research gives producers significant tools to make decisions from start-up through production and sales. Best production management practices, economic and food safety analysis will increase the likelihood of successful operation producing local food for Indiana and beyond. It will also significantly increase the diversification of food crops and production systems, while protecting its fragile environment.Objective 3: Train growers and students to utilize emerging controlled environment agriculture technologies.All team members have committed to involve undergraduate in independent-research related to this project. We strongly believe that the future of the industry depends on highly-qualified individuals. We will continue to train graduate students and involve them in this project.We will continue to host short courses on energy efficiency, water management, and general controlled environment production practices. PI will work with extension specialists and county agents to organize annual greenhouse workshops and conferences in TX. We will invite members from other states to participate as speakers.Many of our members have outfitted greenhouse sections with several alternative production systems (horizontal and vertical hydroponic growing systems, as well as traditional pot-and-media based systems) that the students use to learn about different growing techniques. We all have agreed to do more hands-on training sessions in CEA-related courses to increase practical training.We are currently collaborating on a seven-part article series on Urban Agriculture. The articles will be published in Produce Grower Magazine, a well-known trade journal with a readership of 9,749. We agreed to use the proceeds of these publications to provide travel grants to graduate students.

Progress 11/22/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Growers who are interested in using controlled environment agriculture technology, greenhouse growers, indoor farming industry, urban farmers, emerging urban farmers, students, and the public Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Trained a PhD graduate student and undergraduate students trained many urban farmers and greenhouse producers How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In addition to publishing a technical book, book chapters, and journal articles, we have organized two conferences to disseminate information; we made many presentations at virtual meetings and also had received many visitors and demonstrated our research. These visitors include growers, students, and general public who are interested in controlled environment agriculture. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?we will continue our research and outreach efforts. In addition, we will collaborate with extension specialist and county agents to outreach more audience by organizing conferences/workshopto training the workforce in controlled environment agriculture.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? - Texas A&M AgriLife Research continued research on optimizing indoor sole-source light environment on the growth and nutritional quality of sweet basil and leafy greens. Most recent completed research on supplemental ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation before harvest increased phytochemical concentrations up to 169% in green basil leaves but decreased plant yield, while lower UV-B radiation doses increased antioxidant capacity in Brassica species without yield reduction. Results showed that UV radiation has the potential to increase the concentration of bioactive compounds in leafy greens and herbs and its impact depends on dosage, timing, and method of delivery of the UV radiation, and species and cultivars. • We started research on organic hydroponics in NFT and deep-water culture systems. Organic CEA production methods are still in their infancy and there is extremely limited research-based information. The major challenge of organic hydroponics is lower yield due to slower plant growth compared to conventional farming. We have been conducting several experiments on comparing conventional vs. organic hydroponic lettuce production with or without microbial root inoculant using various propagation plug types. Preliminary results indicated that crop yield is lower in organic fertilizer treatment but crop quality is enhanced. • Texas A&M AgriLife Research collaborated with AgriLife Extension on organizing the conference on "urban controlled environment agriculture" and attracted 60 participants in 2019. • Published the book (second edition) Plant Factory- An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production

Publications

• Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kozai, T., G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.). 2020. Plant factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition, pp. 487.
• Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dou, H. and G. Niu. 2020. Plant responses to light. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 153-166. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition
• Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kozai, T. and G. Niu. 2020. Role of plant factory with artificial lighting (PAFL) in urban areas, In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 7-34. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition.
• Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kozai, T. and G. Niu. 2020. Challenges for the next generation PFAL. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 463-469. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dou, H., G. Niu, M. Gu, and J. Masabni. 2020. Morphological and physiological responses in basil and Brassica species to different proportions of red, blue, and green wavelengths in indoor vertical farming. JASHS 145(4): 267-278. https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS04927-20
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Yu, P., Q. Li, L. Huang, K. Qin, G. Niu, and M. Gu. 2020. The effects of mixed hardwood biochar, mycorrhizae, and fertigation on container tomato and pepper plant growth. Sustainability, 12, 7072; doi:10.3390/su12177072
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dou, H., G. Niu, and M. Gu. 2019. Pre-harvest UV-B radiation and photosynthetic photon flux density interactively affect plant photosynthesis, growth, and secondary metabolites accumulation in basil (Ocimum basilicum) plants. Agronomy 9(8), 434, https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9080434
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Niu, G., Y. Sun, T. Hooks, J. Altland, H. Dou and C. Perez. 2020. Salt tolerance of hydrangea plants varied among species and cultivar within a species. Horticulturae, 6, 54; doi:10.3390/horticulturae6030054
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Rawat, Swati; Cota-Ruiz, Keni; Dou, Haijie; Pullagurala, Venkata; Zuverza-Mena, Nubia; White, Jason; Niu, Genhua; Sharma, Nilesh; Hernandez-Viezcas, Jose; Peralta-Videa, Jose; Gardea-Torresdey, Jorge. 2021. Soil weathered CuO nanoparticles compromise foliar health and pigment production in spinach (Spinacia oleracea). Environmental Science & Technology
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Chen, J.J., H. Xing, A. Paudel, Y. Sun, and G. Niu. 2020. Gas exchange and mineral nutrition of twelve viburnum taxa irrigated with saline water. HortScience 55(8): 1242-1250. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14941-20
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Xing, H., J.J. Chen, Y. Sun, A. Paudel, and G. Niu. 2020. Growth, visual quality, and morphological responses of twelve viburnum taxa to saline water irrigation. HortScience 55(8): 1233-1241. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14940-20
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Deng, C., Y. Wang, K. Cota-Ruiz, A. Reyes, Y. Sun, J. Peralta-Videa, J.A. Hernandez, R.S. Turley, G. Niu, C. Li, J. Gardea-Torresdey. 2020. Bok choy (Brassica rapa) grown in copper oxide nanoparticles-amended soils exhibits toxicity in a phenotype-dependent manner: Translocation, biodistribution and nutritional disturbance. Journal of Hazardous Materials Vol. 398: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122978.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Wang, Y., C. Deng, K. Cota-Ruiz, JR. Peralta-Videa, Y. Sun, S. Rawat, W. Tan, A.R. Reyes, J.A. Hernandez-Viezcas, G. Niu, C. Li, J.L. Gardea-Torresdey. 2020. Improvement of nutrient elements and allicin content in green onion (Allium fistulosum) plants exposed to CuO nanoparticles. Science of The Total Environment 725 (10). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138387
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Liu, Q., Y. Sun, J. Altland, and G. Niu. 2020. Morphological and physiological responses of Cornus alba to salt and drought stresses. HortScience 55(1): 224-230.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Masabni, J., G. Niu, and Y. Sun. 2020. Importance of water quality in hydroponic leafy greens production. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, EHT-135, 02/20
• Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kozai, T. and G. Niu. 2019. Plant factory as a resource-efficient closed plant production system. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 93-115. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition.
• Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Niu, G., T. Kozai, and N. Sabeh. 2019. Physical environmental factors and their properties. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 185-195. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Niu, G. 2020. Organic hydroponics of lettuce. The 2020 International Symposium on Green Development of Modern Agriculture. Organized by Ningxia University. Virtual Zoom Conference Nov 15 -19
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Niu, G. 2020. The effect of light environment in plant factory on nutritional quality of leafy greens. The 17th China International Forum on Solid State Lighting & 2020 International Forum on Wide Bandgap Semiconductors. Organized by Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (Recorded presentation), November 23-25
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dou, H., G. Niu, M. Gu, and J. Masabni. 2020. Substituting Photosynthetically Active Radiation Light with Far-Red Light Increased Biomass and Secondary Metabolites Accumulation in Basil Plants. Annual Conference of ASHS
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Hooks, T., G. Niu, X. Wang, G. Girisha. 2020. Relative Salt Tolerance of Eight Pecan Rootstocks. Annual Conference of ASHS