Analysis of the Environmental Parameters of Hydroponic Crop Grown under Polyhouse Conditions in Different Seasons

Abstract

A study was conducted on Basil (Ocimum Basilicum) crop grown under Polyhouse hydroponics in different seasons by controlling the environmental parameters at Dr. NTR College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla. The research work conducted for four seasons i.e., Season1(April and May), Season2(August and September), Season3(October and November) and Season4(January to February) on environmental parameters is presented in this paper. The environmental parameters were tried to be controlled to maintain a proper relative humidity range, i.e., 60-75%, a temperature below 30 °C, and CO2 levels of 600 to 1500 ppm. The controlled environment and observations recorded by using Rotronic CP11’for crop analysis purpose. This makes a good quality and disease-free crop production. The final results reveal that the highest yield of 41.7 kg in seaso, followed by 40.5 kg in season2, 38.9 kg in season3, and 36.2 kg in season4. The lowest yield of all the seasons was 36.2 kg in season4. Ultimately, the experiment showed that the basil crop grows in good health throughout Season1 and then again during Season2. Polynomial equations were fitted for the humidity and temperatures maintained inside the hydroponic polyhouse which are discussed in this paper. R2 values between 0.5 and 0.7 were obtained for all the fitted equations. According to the study, yield has a positively correlated with temperature and negatively correlated with relative humidity and carbon dioxide.