Paper presented at the 52nd CFCS Annual Meeting, Guadeloupe, July 10-16, 2016 INNOVATING AGROECOLOGICAL FARMING SYSTEMS IN THE CARIBBEAN
DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF UNDERCOVER VEGETABLE GREENHOUSE FOR UTILIZATION OF MICRO-IRRIGATION AND FUZZY LOGIC TECHNIQUES Dr. Puran Bridgemohan1 and Enoch Ghany2 Associate Professor 1, Research Assistant 2 The University of Trinidad and Tobago, Waterloo Research Campus, Waterloo Estates, Carapichaima, Trinidad and Tobago. Email: puran.bridgemohan@utt.edu.tt Key words: Screenhouses , solar radiation, irrigation systems, fuzzy logic control mechanisms Abstract Screenhouses reduce incoming solar radiation that crops receive. In a tropical country such as Trinidad and Tobago, this is an important consideration for effective plant growth. Additionally, screenhouses may provide protection from weather conditions and virus vector insects and birds. The Waterloo Research Campus, housed on the site of the former Caroni 1975 Limited Research Station, contains a repository of rice and sugar cane germplasm. In order to conduct experiments on a variety of germplasm over an extended period of time, whose results would be based on fuzzy logic systems, a screenhouse with a micro-irrigation system was designed and fabricated over a 6 week period in November 2015. Permits and code changes may require that a grower construct a professionally engineered structure where previously a non-load rated greenhouse may have been allowed to be built. The specifications of such dictates the heights, truss support mechanisms, grow boxes dimensions that allows for crop protection and as such welding procedures for proper stabilization so that proper irrigation systems and fuzzy logic control mechanisms can be monitored. Within a budgeted time, availability of materials, least resources and manpower hours, the workflow of designing and building such a structure was done. In retrospect, it can be said that proper scheduling and execution of constructing the screen house was done within budgeted time and cost with minimum resources and to specifications.
Photograph 1. Structure of green house without irrigation systems
Photograph 2. Micro-irrigation system under construction
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