Benefits from different perspectives
Growing under agrotextile netting structures has multiple environmental and productive benefits:
From the economic and social point of view
- It boosts the economic development of environmentally more marginalized areas by making certain crops viable under the protection of net houses. This increases farmers’ income and labor demand.
- It broadens the production calendar, filling market gaps in the off-season by shifting summer production to less warm areas.
From the resource optimization point of view
It optimizes resources: Increased production and quality while using fewer resources.
Economic
- Increased economic benefits: Higher and better quality production, with lower consumption of biocides, energy and resources.
Natural
- Decreased water consumption: By reducing evapotranspiration, it reduces the water needs of plants.
- Increased soil conservation: By reducing its exposure to erosive agents (storms, winds, extreme temperatures).
- Optimized solar energy use: Greater production while consuming fewer natural resources overall.
From the agro-ecological point of view
- It allows the use of bumblebees for pollination, resulting in greater fruit size uniformity, compared to the use of hormones.
- It allows the use of environmentally friendly growing techniques such as integrated pest management and production, with the release of natural predators indoors, considerably reducing the need for the use of pesticides, making it more environmentally friendly and food safe.
- It increases resilience by reducing the crop’s vulnerability to unfavorable bioclimatic conditions: Strong winds, hail, pests, animals of a certain size, drought, etc.
Source: Horticultural magazine (Revista Hortícola), No 192 – April 2006