The National Center for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Development "Estidama" organized the first open day on modern technologies in protected agriculture at the center's headquarters in Riyadh Technology Valley, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The open day programs began with a detailed lecture about the center and its strategic objectives, which include - but are not limited to - enhancing water use efficiency, increasing productivity and reducing the use of pesticides. In addition to discussing three levels of technologies used in the field of protected agriculture, which are low-tech greenhouses covered with plastic that use fan cooling systems, medium-tech greenhouses covered with glass that use fan pad cooling systems, and high-tech greenhouses, which are closed greenhouses cooled by automatic air conditioning systems.
On the other hand, the open day programs included many topics, including controlling climatic factors, fertilization and the effect of light penetration on crop productivity. Based on an experiment conducted by the Sustainability Center on growing cucumbers in three levels of greenhouses with different covers - transparent glass, diffuser glass and polycarbonate panels - the results showed that the higher the percentage of light penetration inside the greenhouses, the higher the productivity of the cucumber crop. Hence, greenhouses covered with transparent glass that is constantly cleaned give the highest productivity of the crop even in the high temperatures and radiation in the summer.
The open day witnessed the attendance of 40 participants from various specializations, who showed great interest and interaction with the topics raised and the facts presented to them. The attendees also went on field trips inside the greenhouses at the center and received more information and direct training on the modern techniques used by the center in the field of protected agriculture.