NCERA_OLD101: Controlled Environment Technology and Use
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Inactive/Terminating
NCERA_OLD101: Controlled Environment Technology and Use
Duration: 10/01/2006 to 09/30/2011
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Statement of Issues and Justification
Statement of Issue and Justification:
1. Nature / Significance of Issue: Agricultural issues related to production, the environment, and dietary health are, and will continue to be, important components of the nations well-being. Research activities in production agriculture, environmental science, plant physiology, genetics and ecology have begun to address these issues and require various forms of controlled environments to obtain objective results. Thus, providing sound scientific data upon which to base agricultural policy issues requires the ability to study various aspects of plant growth and development in controlled environments. The use of completely and/or partially controlled environments in commercial production of horticultural and ornamental crops is also steadily increasing and represents a significant portion of the U.S. economy. Controlled environment technology has improved as our understanding of plant growth has increased. However, the complexity of such systems has increased as demands for precision and accuracy by researchers and growers have heightened. Controlled environment facilities are expensive to operate and maintain, and require careful management to ensure desired conditions are sustained. Sustained dialogue among scientists, engineers, and industrial users of controlled environment technology is needed in order to ensure appropriate use and continued development of this vital technology.
2. Regional Considerations: Although not unique to the North Central Region, the NCR-101 Committee has taken the lead in developing information on controlled environment technology and disseminating this information to universities, commercial manufacturers and growers, and other government agencies. This region also stands to benefit from the development of this technology due to the relatively short growing season, low winter temperatures, and low light levels. A number of pioneering commercial ventures that have attempted to grow vegetable crops in completely controlled environments were located in this region but none have been able to operate profitably for long durations. Notable exceptions to this are Archer Daniels Midland and a number of specialty hydroponic tomato and lettuce growers who supply local gourmet restaurants directly. In addition, greenhouse ornamental and nursery crop production is a multi- million dollar industry that is very dependent on the technology developed by this committee.
3. Composition of the Committee: The committee is composed of official Agricultural Experiment Station representative from 8 states in the North Central Region (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, OH, and WI) and from 14 states (AK, AL, AZ, CA, CT, MD, MT, NJ, NY, NC, PA, SC, UT, and TX) outside the region. The USDA is represented by a member from the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory in Beltsville, MD and by a representative of CSREES in Washington D.C. Several representatives from each of three NASA facilities, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, and Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL are associated with the committee. The commercial sector is represented by private research consultants and private companies supporting NASA, (Lockheed-Martin Engineering & Sciences in TX and Dynamac Corp. in FL), and several members of major Growth Chamber manufacturing firms, Conviron, Environmental Growth Chambers, and Percival Scientific. Of these representatives, about one third are trained as Agricultural Engineers with the rest being Horticulturists or Plant Physiologists. Therefore, there is an excellent mix of "basic" and "applied" researchers, and the committee has, as a major objective, the integration of controlled environment research into classroom teaching, graduate research and Extension educational programs. This healthy interaction of different perspectives and interests assures results that benefit the agricultural community and society in general.
4. Involvement in National Programs. The use of controlled environments for research, education and production is increasing and the variety and complexity of applications is expanding. Thus, an appropriate emphasis requires a continuous updating of guidelines for the proper use of controlled environments, including proper reporting of parameters such as light quantity and quality, temperature, humidity, and atmospheric gas composition. These guidelines are published periodically by members of the committee in national scientific, engineering, and trade journals. The committee also maintains a collection of analytical instruments that are used to calibrate instruments in member laboratories, which can then be used to check instrumentation for other colleagues and researchers at the different stations. This instrumentation rotates between laboratories on approximately a monthly basis and is recalibrated at the Utah State University between each use.
Objectives
-
Technical Advancement: Advance the technology of controlled or partially controlled environments for agricultural research and production. New ideas and advanced technology are shared and evaluated for potential use by those with research and production interests.
-
Technology Transfer: Facilitate the transfer of technology among those involved with the design, management, manufacture and/or operation of controlled environment systems for both research and production agriculture.
-
Quality Control: Develop quality assurance procedures for environmental control and monitoring in experimental and production facilities. These procedures provide a known and documented accuracy of environmental control in controlled environment facilities.
-
Guidelines and Standards: Continue to develop and revise guidelines for measuring and reporting environmental parameters for experiments in controlled environments.
-
Communication: Publish research, exchange information, prepare educational materials, and provide consultation and expertise for individuals engaged in controlled environment research and production activities.
Procedures and Activities
Objectives of the committee can be accomplished through communication at annual meetings and coordination among committee members based on activities and critical needs assigned to volunteering members during these meetings. Annual committee meetings will be held every year at rotating member cites. The 2006 meeting is scheduled to be held at The Ohio State University, OH. The 2007 meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held at Kennedy Space Center, FL. At least one international meeting will be held in conjunction with our international colleagues. Presentations and technical discussions held at each meeting serve to focus on technical advancement of controlled environment technology by focusing on problems, new developments, and novel applications by scientists and industry partners. Strong industrial collaboration during these meetings, and continued discussions fostered by interactions at these meetings between scientists and industry, ensure that technology transfer, including advances in design, instrumentation and control, and monitoring, occurs with industry, academic and government partners. Quality control of controlled environment practitioners is a focus at every meeting and continued exchange of ideas during the committee meetings will serve to ensure controlled environment technology is used appropriately. The NCR101 committee has worked on, and will continue to work on development of reporting guidelines and standards for work conducted in controlled environments. Efforts will be made to ensure recent publications by members of the committee, including conference proceedings, are widely available including access over the world wide web.
Expected Outcomes and Impacts
- Improved operation and development of growth chamber facilities and implementation of new technologies through information exchange and technology transfer.
- Facilitate open exchange on international developments and accelerate their evaluation and adaptation for US applications.
- A joint international consortium with partner groups in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand will be held in conjunction with the annual meetings to encourage collaboration and information exchange. Conference proceedings will be published and accessible through the world wide web.
- Standards for measuring and reporting growth chamber research activities will continue to be developed, refined, and promoted by industry, government, and academic partners.
- Partnerships among manufacturers, researchers, and growth chamber operators will continue to be fostered in order to fuel the development of new technologies and better management practices.
Projected Participation
View Appendix E: ParticipationEducational Plan
See prior section - Expected Outcomes and Impacts
Organization/Governance
Participating institutions are identified and approved by the committee several (two to three) years in advance of the scheduled meetings. At each of the annual committee meetings, a new committee is elected for the next year. Dr. David H. Fleisher is the current chair and Dr. Desmond Mortley has been elected as the incoming chair for FY 2006.
Literature Cited
NCR 101 Publications
ANSI/ASAE EP 411.4 Mar 2002. Guidelines for measuring and reporting environmental parameters for plant experiments in growth chambers. ASAE, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA. 7pp.
ANSI/ASAE EP 406.4 Jan 03. Heating, Ventilating and Cooling Greenhouses. ASAE, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA. 9pp.
Berry, W.L., D.P. Ormrod, P.A. Hammer, J.C. McFarlane, D.T. Krizek, R.W. Langhans, and T.W. Tibbitts. 1979. Uniformity studies with lettuce: results of growth and tissue analysis. Phytotronics Newsletter 19:62-66.
Berry, W.L., D.T. Krizek, D.P. Ormrod, J.C. McFarlane, R.W. Langhans, and T.W. Tibbitts. 1981. Elemental content of lettuce grown under base-line growth conditions in five controlled-environment facilities. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 106(5):661-666.
Downs, R.J. and D.T. Krizek, 1997. Chapter 4. Air movement. pp. 87-104. In: R.W. Langhans and T.W. Tibbitts (eds.). Plant growth chamber handbook. North Central Regional Res. Publ. No. 340, Iowa Agr. & Home Econ. Expt. Sta. Spec. Rpt. No. 99, Ames, IA.
International Committee for Controlled Environment Guidelines. March 2004. Brochure: Minimum Guidelines for Measuring and Reporting Environmental Parameters for Experiments on Plants in Growth Chambers and Rooms.
International Committee for Controlled Environment Guidelines. December 2004. Poster: Do You Accurately Measure and Report the Growing Conditions of Your Controlled Environment Experiments?
Kondo , N., M.H. Jensen, T. Kozai, L.D. Albright, J.C. Sager, H. Murase, Y.E. Chu, D.R. Mears, K.C. Ting, and G.A. Giacomelli. 1999. Proceedings of the ACESYS III Forum: From Protected Cultivation to Phytomation. Bioresource Engineering, Rutgers Univ., Cook College, New Brunswick, N.J. 128 pp.
Krizek, D.T. 1979. Carbon dioxide: Guidelines. pp. 241-269. In: T.W. Tibbitts and T.T. Kozlowski (eds.), Controlled environment guidelines for plant research. Academic Press, New York.
Krizek, D.T. 1979. Report Controlled Environments Working Conference. HortScience 14(3): 297. Also published in Chronica Horticulturae 19(2):32-33, Phytotronics Newsletter 20:10-13, and ASPP Newsletter 6(4):5-6.
Krizek, D.T. and W. L. Berry. 1981. Variation in elemental content of 'Grand Rapids' lettuce grown under four levels of far-red and infrared radiation in controlled environments. J. Plant Nutr. 3(5):827-841.
Krizek, D.T. and D.P. Ormrod. 1980. Growth responses of 'Grand Rapids' lettuce and 'First Lady' marigold to increased far-red and infraredd radiaiton under controlled environments. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 105(6):936-939.
Krizek, D.T. and J.C. Sager. 1996. Electromagnetic radiation. pp. 69-75. In: F.B. Salisbury (ed.), Units, symbols, and terminology for plant physiology: A reference for presentation of research results in the plant sciences. Oxford University Press, N.Y.
Krizek, D.T., J.C. Sager, and T.W. Tibbitts. 1997. Chapter 15. Guidelines for measurement and reporting of environmental conditions. pp. 207-216. In: R.W. Langhans and T.W. Tibbitts (eds.), Plant growth chamber handbook. North Central Regional Res. Publ. No. 340, Iowa Agr. & Home Econ. Expt. Sta. Spec. Rpt. No. 99, Ames, IA.
NCR-101. 1984. Quality assurance procedures for accuracy in environmental monitoring - draft proposal. Biotronics 13:43-46.
Ormrod, D.P., P.A. Hammer, D.T. Krizek, T.W. Tibbitts, J.C. McFarlane, and R.W. Langhans. 1980. Base-line growth studies of 'First Lady' marigold in controlled environments. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 105(6): 936-939.
Ormrod, D.P. and D.T. Krizek. 1978. Plant stress studies in controlled environments. HortScience 13(4): 453-456.
Ormrod, D.P. and D.T. Krizek. 1979. Environmental stresses in controlled environments. Phytotronics Newsletter 19:62-66. 1979.
Peet, M.M. and D.T. Krizek, 1997. Chapter 4. Carbon dioxide. pp. 65-79. In: R.W. Langhans and T.W. Tibbitts (eds.). Plant growth chamber handbook. North Central Regional Res. Publ. No. 340, Iowa Agr. & Home Econ. Expt. Sta. Spec. Rpt. No. 99, Ames, IA.
Romer, M.J., C. Cooney, and F.S. Scopelleti. 2000. Growth chamber maintenance protocols. pp. 42-52. In: Phytotronics for agricultural research, K. Y. Prabhu and P. Chandra (eds.). National Phytotron Facility, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. 206 pp.
Sager, J.C., D.T. Krizek, and T.W. Tibbitts. 1996. Guidelines for measuring and reporting environmental parameters for plant experiments in plant growth chambers. pp. 202-215. In: F.B. Salisbury (ed.), Units, symbols, and terminology for plant physiology: A reference for presentation of research results in the plant sciences, Oxford Univ. Press, N.Y.
Sager, J.C., J.H. Norikane, A.J. Both, and T.W. Tibbitts. July 2005. Quality Assurance for Environment of Plant Growth Facilities. ASAE paper No. 05-4137. ASAE, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA. 11 pp.
Tibbitts, T.W and Krizek, D.T. 1997. History of the ASHS Working Group on Growth Chambers and Controlled Environments, 1969-96: A case study of involvement. HortScience 32(1), 16-20.
Tibbitts, T.W., J.C. Sager, and D. T. Krizek. 2000. Guidelines for measuring and reporting environmental parameters in growth chambers. Biotronics 45:1-9. 2000.