Protected Cultivation - Greenhouse Technology and Management - page 7

devoted to tomato cultivation (Wittwer and
Castilla, 1995).
However, it was the arrival of plastic
films that facilitated an enormous expan-
sion of the greenhouse industries in Asia
(mainly Japan, Korea and China) and in the
countries around the Mediterranean (with
Spain and Italy leading in terms of total
area). In Europe, the energy crisis and the
introduction of plastics contributed to the
partial shifting of greenhouse vegetable
production from northern countries (mainly
The Netherlands) to the Mediterran-
ean Basin, where low-cost plastic green-
houses allowed for low-cost production of
out-of-season vegetables (Castilla, 1994).
Improvements in logistics facilitated the
distribution of the products in the national
and European markets, where demand was
increased by economic development.
In parallel, a progressive change
occurred in the greenhouse industries of
Northern Europe where the cultivation of
cut flower and ornamental plants, increased
to the detriment of vegetable cultivation.
There are two basic greenhouse concepts
(Enoch, 1986). The first one (typical of
Northern Europe) aims at achieving maxi-
mum climate control to maximize product-
ivity, requiring the use of sophisticated
greenhouses. The second concept pursues
minimum climate control using low technol-
ogy greenhouses, making production possi-
ble under modified, but non-optimal,
conditions at a low cost, and it is typical of
Mediterranean-type greenhouses. Obviously,
there are different gradations between these

two extreme concepts. The type of green-
house selected mainly depends on: (i) these
two concepts (maximum or minimum cli-
mate control); (ii) the type of species to be
cultivated; (iii) the locality; and (iv) the pre-
vailing socio-economic conditions.
The supply of fresh fruits, vegetables
and flowers which consumers are demand-
ing, may be achieved in three ways (Enoch
and Enoch, 1999): (i) growing in green-
houses which are near to centres of con-
sumption; (ii) storing the products after
their harvest, to sell them later; and
(iii) transporting the products from other
climatic regions, where they are naturally
produced (in open air), to the consumption
centres.
Nowadays, these three procedures not
only coexist, but a hybrid method of pro-
duction has become predominant in which
produce is grown in greenhouses in mild
climate areas, such as the Mediterranean,
and transported to the big European con-
sumption centres.

1.5 Importance

Windbreaks were the first type of protection
used in agriculture and, although there are
no precise statistics about their use, they are
still very important all over the world.
The availability of plastic films has per-
mitted the widespread use of mulch on
many crops in some Mediterranean coun-
tries and, especially, in East Asia (China,
Japan and Korea) (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1. estimated areas of protected cultivation in the world in 2010 (adapted from Castilla and
Hernández, 1995, 2005, 2007; Ito, 1999; Castilla et al ., 2001, 2004; Castilla, 2002; Jouet, 2004; espi et al .,
2006; Park, K.W., 2006, personal communication; Zhang, 2006; Schnitzler et al ., 2007; Kan et al. , 2012).

Geographical area (thousands of ha)

Protection Asia Mediterranean Rest of europe a America Others Total

Mulching 9,870 402 65 265 15 10,617

Direct cover 22 16 39 13 15 105

Low tunnel 1,505 133 9 20 5 1,672

Greenhouse b 1,630 201 45 25 4 1,905

a excluding Mediterranean countries.
b Includes high tunnels.