Smart glass film impacts on energy use and productivity in greenhouse lettuce

Prof. Zhonghua Chen, globally lauded scientist and Education Leader at Western Sydney University’s National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre, talks about two projects he leads for FFS, exploring strategies for cooling and sustainable fertigation in glasshouse vegetable production.

Hear Sydney-based agripreneur Alex Soeriyadi, an industry partner in the FFSCRC’s ‘Smart glass’, ‘Glasshouse films’ and ‘Methane reduction’ projects, discuss his light-spectra-shifting, crop-enhancing agricultural film LLEAF-Red and the trials it is undergoing at Western Sydney University.

Hear Western Sydney University Professor Oula Ghannoum, crop scientist, key researcher on several FFSCRC projects and the project lead for the new $6.8m ‘Automated Crop Monitoring for Protected Cropping Systems’ project.

Hear Dist. Prof. Tissue talk about the ongoing trials of new retrofit films that aim to reduce heat and boost growth and yield in glasshouse-grown crops, involving Western Sydney University scientists, Hort Innovation, various industry partners and FFS.

LLEAF P/L CEO Dr Alex Soeriyadi is working with Hort Innovation, DPI and Western Sydney University scientists to trial his prototype agricultural films on glasshouse-grown blueberry and lettuce crops. Here, he explains how it all works.

This papers compares the stomatal responses of Capsicum plants grown hydroponically under control glass (70% diffuse light) or the smart glass (SG) film ULR-80, which blocked >50% of short-wave radiation and ~9% of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

Light‐limited photosynthesis under energy‐saving film decreases eggplant yield