November/December 2022 - 20

CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE
electricity prices. You don't have the
same electricity price over the course of
the day. I believe the latest estimate from
the Department of Energy has the United
States spending about a billion dollars
a year on electricity to provide light
for crops that are grown in controlled
environment agriculture. "
The responsiveness built into the
Candidus algorithm has a significant
effect on growers' return on investment.
" You make a system that cuts the cost
by 20% overall and that makes a critical
financial difference, " van Iersel explained.
Among the most challenging parts of
the work is convincing growers who have
operated in a certain way for decades that a
new system can provide real value to them.
" Many are reluctant to change things,
but some growers love trying new ways, "
van Iersel said. " When you see more
people doing well from trying something
out, you tend to feel more comfortable. "
Managing hydroponic systems
In August 2021, Rhuanito Ferrarezi
was hired as an associate professor of
controlled environment agriculture in the
UGA-CAES Department of Horticulture
to leverage his expertise in production
to help strengthen research capacity in
controlled environment agriculture.
A main area of his work involves
improving irrigation, nutrition and
cropping systems, focusing on vegetables
and ornamentals.
" My lab is trying to figure out what
management systems should be used
in hydroponic systems for controlled
environment agriculture, " said Ferrarezi.
" We also have a focus on figuring out how
we manage the fertilizer solutions in a
controlled environment to bring a benefit
in using less fertilizer for production. "
'Like a blood test for a plant'
One of the innovations Ferrarezi is
working on is related to sap analysis,
which uses leaf samples or soil substrate
sampling to determine nutrient content
in plant tissue.
" It is like a blood test for a plant, " he said.
" We provide a snapshot of what is going
on with the crop over a growing cycle. In
a controlled environment, we have the
ability to grow a crop quicker than out
in the field. We can actually monitor the
nutrient content inside a plant in real
time and growers can either increase
or decrease the fertilization based on
those results. "
Ferrarezi believes that controlled
environment agriculture will continue
to attract increased attention from
industries, with good reason.
" They are looking for ways to fine-tune
production, and controlled environment
agriculture can help lead the way, " he
said. " It's an exciting time to be working
in this area. "
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November/December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2022
