Greenhouse in the World and Turkey

One of the most important problems of keeping the population in rural areas in our country is the size of the land capital. Increasing population, increasingly fragmented intermediate day by day, requires more use in small areas. Greenhouse is currently seen as the first of the measures to prevent unplanned urbanization by keeping the population in rural areas, which reduces unemployment and ensures that more products are bought in our country. In addition, fresh vegetables and flowers cannot be grown in the field and garden in all seasons of the year. In terms of human health, vegetables should be eaten fresh in all seasons. The importance of vegetables for human health is due to the vitamins, hormones, bases, minerals and biochemical substances they contain. Although it may be a solution to the problem of consumption of vegetables outside the growing season by storing them in various ways, vegetables that are frozen in cold storage, canned or dried cause them to lose many of their properties compared to fresh. In addition, it is not possible to store some vegetables in this way. In order to overcome this bottleneck in vegetable production and to always offer fresh vegetables to the consumer, it is necessary to provide suitable environmental conditions in some special buildings. In seasons when the environmental conditions are not suitable for the growth and development of vegetables and flowers, the cultivation of fresh vegetables and flowers can only be achieved by planning and establishing special facilities, defined as greenhouses, where suitable conditions are created for the best development of these plants. Factors such as heat, humidity, air and light should be provided with the least investment and labor for the economical growth of plants and the best development in greenhouses. Greenhouse can be defined as “the facilities where vegetable growing and floriculture are carried out economically all year long without being dependent on the climate”, or we can define it comprehensively as follows. Without being completely or partially dependent on climatic environmental conditions, factors such as temperature, light, humidity and air are kept under control, when necessary, with glass, plastic, etc. translucent materials in order to produce various cultivated plants and their seeds, seedlings and saplings, to protect the plants, and to display them. It is a high system greenhouse cultivation structure made in different ways by covering. Businesses with such facilities are called “greenhouse businesses”. In addition, plastic mulches, superficial covers, pillows, low and high tunnels that partially eliminate the negative effects of environmental conditions in order to grow plants cannot be qualified as greenhouses.

We can list the benefits of growing vegetables in the greenhouse as follows: 1. By extending the cultivation period, the number of cultivated plants grown during the year increases, as well as the opportunities to benefit from certain areas. 2. There is the possibility of constantly bringing goods to the market. 3. In addition to obtaining high efficiency from the unit area, the quality of the product is also increased. 4. The use of seasonal labor in agricultural enterprises can be evaluated regularly and continuously with the greenhouse. 5. It causes the emergence of new industries for the production of various goods required for the construction of the greenhouse. 1.2. Greenhousing in the World In Italy, it continued to develop by covering the pits dug on the south-facing secluded slopes during the Roman period and growing vegetables with transparent material. 16. and These structures, built in the 17th century, can be considered the first beginning of greenhouse cultivation. In the 18th century, it was determined that the amount of light in these buildings was low, and in order to increase the amount of light entering the building, the window area was increased and glass was made on the side walls other than the roof. Then, greenhouse construction in the USA and Europe started to develop rapidly after the first world war, together with the industry. If we look at the international greenhouse cultivation today, we see that greenhouses have a wide spread area around the world. It is seen that ecological factors and greenhouse technology are quite different on this wide spreading area. For this reason, it is possible to classify the countries where greenhouse cultivation is carried out as follows, taking into account different latitudes and different greenhouse technologies. 1. Countries in the cool climate zone, 2. Countries in the temperate climate zone, 3. Countries dominated by two climates, 1.2.1. Countries in the Cool Climate Zone The main European countries in this zone are the Netherlands, England, Denmark, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria and Russia. The Netherlands is the leading country among these countries in terms of 10.000 hectares of glass greenhouse area and production technique. The common features of these countries in terms of greenhouse cultivation are as follows. 1. Greenhouse structural elements are made of profile steel, aluminum or other alloys, and cover materials are glass. 2. Greenhouse construction and installation of heating systems require a high investment. 3. climatic factors make it necessary to heat inside the greenhouse for a long time. 4. In these greenhouses, the most suitable heating, lighting, ventilation and other cultural processes are carried out completely. The greenhouse enterprises of the countries in the cool climate zone have the following difficulties compared to the greenhouse enterprises in the temperate climate zone. 1. High production costs, 2. High energy expenditure, 3. Increasing the product range. 1.2.2. Countries in the Temperate Climate Zone The favorable ecological conditions of the countries in this zone enable profitable greenhouse cultivation. Greenhouse areas are increasing rapidly in these countries, as the average temperatures are high, especially in winter, and it reduces the heating costs, which is the biggest input in greenhouses. In this climate zone, countries with a coast to the Mediterranean are located, countries such as Spain, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Israel are located in this zone and our country has a great potential suitable for establishing greenhouses. The common features of the countries in this belt in terms of greenhouse cultivation are as follows. 1. Greenhouse cultivation can be done in the form of two products as spring and autumn first-hand cultivation. 2. Greenhouses can be established with low investment costs. 3. Heating, which is the biggest operating expense in greenhouse cultivation, can be kept at the lowest level. 4. Despite the low investment and operating costs, the production technologies in greenhouses are low. For these reasons, the yield and quality of the products obtained from greenhouses are lower. 1.2.3. Countries with Two Climates The common feature in these countries is the combination of glass and plastic greenhouses. Although greenhouses in Mediterranean countries have this feature, high technology is also applied in plastic greenhouses in the USA and Japan in these countries. Due to the large expenses required for greenhouse heating all over the world, greenhouse management is shifting from cold regions to temperate regions, and towards regions where the season is suitable and heating costs are low in winter months. For this reason, countries between 30-40 degrees of latitude become more favorable for greenhouse management. Because 30. Cooling in greenhouses from excessive heat when below the latitude, 40. When the latitude is exceeded, heating costs increase. 1.3. Greenhouse in our country The beginning of greenhouse vegetable growing in our country dates back to the last 30 to 35 years. The establishment of greenhouse businesses started in the cities of Antalya and Mersin, which are the most suitable in terms of climate. In fact, although plant cultivation in greenhouses is done all over our country, factors such as economy, transportation and marketing restrict or improve greenhouse management in providing suitable environmental conditions for plants. In the meantime, another point to be considered is that in places that are less suitable for growing plants in the greenhouse but close to large consumption centers, while the expenditure for heating the greenhouse increases, the decrease in transportation costs can play an effective role in the construction of greenhouses. In addition to technical measures such as reducing heating costs by utilizing solar energy, these areas will make a significant contribution to the growth of greenhouse enterprises in our country by using geothermal resources such as hot water, boiling water and steam in nature for the same purpose. The biggest limiting factor for greenhouse operation is the fuel used to provide the optimum temperature for plant growth in the greenhouse and the maintenance costs of the heating system. For this reason, the regions where greenhouse management can be established in our country are the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, Black Sea Regions and regions with suitable microclimates. Our country has a larger greenhouse potential than other Mediterranean countries. The reason for this is that the coasts of Spain and France are a tourism area with a very good infrastructure and the area to build greenhouses from these facilities is very limited. In Italy and Greece, on the other hand, because the coasts are quite rugged and mountainous, there is very little space for greenhouse operations. In countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya on the African coasts, for long-term aquaculture, besides heating in winter, cooling in hot seasons is also required. Greenhouse cultivation in our country shows distribution and development in the Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines. Within this distribution, intensive production areas were born in places. Greenhouse cultivation, which is seen in the microclimate around Yalova in the north, is concentrated around İzmir and Muğla in the west, around Antalya and Mersin in the south, and reaches Samandağ district of Hatay province. If we look at the distribution of greenhouse areas in our country in recent years, approximately 65% of greenhouse areas in Turkey and 21% in Antalya. in Mersin. 7% is in Muğla, 2% is in İzmir and 1% is in Istanbul. This distribution shows that greenhouse cultivation in Turkey is concentrated in the Mediterranean region, where the winter months are the warmest (Table 1.1). We can summarize the distinctive features of greenhouse cultivation in our country according to our regions as follows. The northernmost region, where greenhouse cultivation is intense, is Yalova. Its ecological structure with micro-climate characteristics and its proximity to a major consumption center such as Istanbul maintain its importance. In recent years, the feature of greenhouse businesses in this region is the application of cutting and pot flower cultivation techniques. Most of the greenhouses in İzmir are located in Balçova, Narlıdere plain. The ecological suitability of the region with its microclimate feature, the effect of rich geothermal resources on the easy heating of the soil, and its proximity to a large market like İzmir are important factors in the development of greenhouse cultivation in the region. Cucumbers are grown mostly in greenhouses, followed by purslane in spring and lettuce in autumn. Recently, ornamental plants cultivation has also started to increase. Since the areas where the greenhouses are located are dense settlement centers, İzmir is at the saturation point in terms of greenhouse cultivation area and it is not expected that these areas will increase much for now. In Muğla, which is the province where greenhouse areas have increased rapidly recently, greenhouses are spreading in Fethiye district. Since greenhouse cultivation is new in this district, tomatoes are grown as a single product in greenhouses. The fact that ecological conditions are suitable and there are areas to establish greenhouses show that this province has a great potential in terms of greenhouse cultivation. In the Antalya region, greenhouse farming is carried out intensively on the coastline between Kaş and Gazipaşa districts. The region is in the best situation in our country in terms of excess greenhouse areas and greenhouse production technique. The main products in greenhouse vegetable production in the region are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplants. In recent years, ornamental plants have also been grown. In some microclimate regions where autumn and spring cultivation is carried out in the region, the heating cost is completely eliminated. Table 1.1. Distribution of greenhouses in Turkey.