Greenhouse climate control: an approach for integrated pest management

Modern control strategies for greenhouse climate control can be used in order to reduce disease infection and to influence plant development. Within the concept of integrated plant protection, it is necessary to minimise chemical applications. In addition to existing dehumidification strategies, in particular, the use of climate control for integrated pest control requires registration and simulation of climate conditions in the plant canopy. To avoid intensive and expensive technical measurements, it is necessary to describe the energy and mass transport processes within the canopy, the exchange processes between air and plant elements and other Surfaces. The basics of a computer-supported anti-botrytis climate control management have been developed based on a plant canopy model. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.