In some dictionaries, life is defined as the power that manifests the purpose of feeding, increasing and shaping matter into energy. Life means existence, a state of being. No matter how we look at the definitions, one thing is clear: life is the force that drives the universe and all its events, and for humans and all living organisms, life or animate, it is force completely dependent on special factors, such as air, water, light and many more elements that interact to support existence in all its forms and details. it is equally important for the survival of the species.
All these resources are abundantly present on earth, but nothing can last forever. polluted water is not useful, the air itself is contaminated in many parts of the globe, mineral resources are not renewable and light… natural light it has its own benefits, but it can also pose a specific risk if we consider the UV emissions that reach the Earth’s atmosphere.
Light influences all life on Earth directly or indirectly. Plants need light for photosynthesis, so they bring their energy to grow and convert to consuming animals. At the same time, animals need light for their harmonious development and even at night they seek a little low illumination. The lack of natural light creates various disturbances from humans and the same happens from plants and animals.
UV light can harm living organisms in several ways. For example plants exposed to UV light reduce in size and are more susceptible to specific diseases. Direct light coming from the sun to the earth emits three types of ultraviolet: UV-A (380-315 nm), UV-B (315-280 nm) and UV-C (280-10 nm). Due to the absorption of ozone in the atmosphere, 99% of ultraviolet-light”>ultraviolet reaching the earth’s surface is UV. A.
While UV-A causes only minor harm to plants, UV-B, which is shorter-lived, can damage plant tissue and can cause skin cancer in humans. UV-C is the part of the UV spectrum with the shortest wavelength and all bacteria and viruses in the artificial UV-C system possess the deadly heat of the sun. UV light certainly has paradoxes: it is harmful in one way and useful in another. Artificial medicine is using this UV light to cure difficult skin conditions like psoriasis, scabies, lymphoma, acne, a-topic. dermatitis, and so on.
On the contrary, plants do not need too much UV light. For this reason, the production of crops with artificial light means that eliminating dangerous UV emissions seems to be the next logical step.
Plant Breeding Technology – Crop Production Systems
The goal of the harvest production system is to develop innovative technologies that lower harvest costs and enable producers who do not know crop farming.
Crop production systems do not ignore the important factors that influence plant development: temperature, humidity, light, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients. All of these things combine to create an ideal decorative plant to grow and reproduce as well as influencing size, seeds, plant health and so on. Each plant will thrive in its own way, depending on the environment. For a long time, biologists have been investigating the factors that influence the development of vegetation. Light is very important and the researchers were able to determine exactly what balance the plants need for their growth. Certain colors in light rays are necessary for good plant development. We get a vegetable mirror and a small amount of energy from the emission of the yellow and green visible spectrum. However, the red and blue fractions of the light continuum are the most valuable energy resources for plant life, and plants need more red (625 to 675 nm) than blue (400 to 470 nm). Yellow (525 nm) also triggers photosynthesis, while IR influences seed stimulation and UV color and smell.
How Light Color Influences Plant Growth?
Blue light: plants for intense blue light. Reducing blue light will result in poor growth – the strength of the rays in any other part of the spectrum is not as important as the intensity of the blue, which forms depth and quality.
Red (660 nm) and infrared (730 nm) (also known as IR or far-red) light: increasing the amount of IR compared to 660 nm makes red plants grow tall and thin. But if IR is reduced and red is increased, the plants will be short but thick. Plants’ reactions are linear with the color red/far red ratio and can also vary in response to red and far red light. .
Ultraviolet (UV) light: While overexposure is dangerous, small amounts of UV light can benefit flora. In many cases, UV light is the main cause of color, taste and smell. However, UV-C and UV-B are believed to block diffused plants and should therefore be removed from the light under which the plants are grown with UV stabilizers or glass in green houses. UV removal up to 400nm can be effective even in the case of insects carrying the virus (as insects partially see in UV).
Direct light from the Sun distributes useful equalities only at special times of the day, and in a small amount sufficient for harmonious growth in some parts of the earth, but not enough for others.
Crop production systems deal with such problems and find ways to natural light with lucubration. The idea of growing plants under artificial lighting is not entirely new. Not long ago, NASA started growing plants in space and the results were amazing. Today we know that by using the correct method of killing plants, they develop harmonious and healthy, making sure that they have all the other conditions maintained. However, getting the right lighting is not an easy task, especially if one takes into consideration the efficiency of both light sources.
LED Lighting Technologies to replace Natural Light
Replacing natural light is difficult even if you consider how difficult it is to get light around the visible part of the image with traditional lights. Light Emitting Diodes are here to change that problem.
SSL (solid state lighting) is the smallest lighting technology and is now believed to be more efficient than incandescent and fluorescent due to the fact that SSLs produce light at or near the visible part of the spectrum and as a result light can be emitted. or when the minor used the correct conversion. One of the biggest advantages is that SSL technology removes the loss of components from light sources (remember: light emitting diodes do not contain any ultraviolet light, unless they are born as UV LEDs).
NASA will already be working on using SSL in space agriculture. The reasons are quite simple: incandescent or fluorescent lamps are not efficient enough for such uses, because they consume. they generate a lot of electrical power, heat and contain burning electrodes (maintenance costs are high). For this reason, NASA plant physiologists began to work with light emitting diodes (blue and red) to lettuce plants grow like lettuce< /a> and raphani. Our researchers found that blue and red light is essential for plant growth and, in general, a percentage of 8% of blue LEDs and 92% red LEDs, with the same frequency and relative intensity per LED, are sufficient for harmonic development. Blue has less power than red; however, a percentage between 1% and 20% of blue light can be chosen, depending on the plants and their growth requirements. NASA scientists have tried to create the most cost- and energy-efficient light sources possible, and for this reason they have eliminated from other colored fixtures normally used in light white found “What we basically found is that we can limit the amount of color we give the plants and still have them grow just like with white light.” said research scientist Greg Goins of Dynamac Corp. LEDs are not the only efficient ones for growing plants: sulfur lamps are the most efficient light sources known to man, which can generate as much light as the midday sun, perfect for lighting large-scale systems such as greenhouses. For smaller applications, such as indoor-hortens, LEDs seem to be the right choice.
Pros and Cons of LED Light Systems
There are some pros and cons when it comes to LED grow light systems. When planning such agricultural plans, it is necessary to carefully consider that the plants are completely exposed to light wavelengths from UV to IR, as above it was said that water and carbon dioxide had to be converted into sugars. Some plants use more reds and blues, less greens and yellows, while others use only reds and blues in green, and medium light. If the LEDs are chosen for brightness, there is one aspect to be underlined: they only see bright, because the light is unidirectional and their size is small. For light, you need quite a lot of LEDs, so the cost of LED arrays or LED modules is so high. LEDs can be calibrated to emit only the most efficient light for plants, but not all plants need light. This is why such light sources are only recommended in places where direct light from the sun is not enough or in existing ones – for example, an agricultural area. Also in places where the light from the sun is too strong and can damage plants with high emission. of UV, LEDs are a good choice, because UV filters stop some of the use wavelengths too. During the winter season tempests restrict production; This is why plants need natural light instead. It makes sense to provide the plants with the minimum lighting conditions for the appropriate development.
There are some significant factors to consider when choosing light sources for such applications and these are low cost, energy efficiency, long life, the ability to withstand voltage fluctuations, modularity to give users the ability to assemble clothes that give the same amount. light work, where needed. LEDs are quite efficient in converting electrical power to light, in fact more than traditional fluorescent and incandescent lamps. Due to the fact that light-emitting diodes can be made to emit a specific wavelength and are expected to have a long life span (up to 50,000 hours), many physiologists consider using the plant in large-scale applications. Most LEDs, compared to other traditional lamps, need to be replaced every two to three years. Other features such as optional viewing angles, control options, instant time changes, cold start and much more, recommend semiconductor designs. Now this technology is still expensive, but in time the efficiency of LEDs will increase while the prices decrease and these details are a good base for future planning.
The situation is so clear that to implement LED grow light systems a lot of research is needed. It’s not enough to put some blue and red on the PCB and say: “this is it; we have a plant growing LED system”. NASA has created the only device that delivers the minimum amount of light needed by certain plants. For greenhouses on Earth, other questions must be answered: how much blue, how much red? What about other colors, what about UV and IR? Is it a light pulse? If morning and evening should be darkened to mimic natural conditions (sunrise and sunset?). Do plants need light at night? and the list of remains is opened.
