Euro-Mediterranean Project – Technical File: RUE / IN / No. 12
a) General information
Optimising Marginal Resources in Intensive Horticultural Production in
Project title:
Southern Turkey and Northern Egypt
Location
Code (identification of IC18960082 INCO - 4thFWP
the project, reference Scientific Officer . Mr Alain Darthenucq
programme, responsible DG . XII
official and DG)
Area (RES, RUE, FF
and sub specifications)
Year of approval
Sector
Programme
Reference no.
RUE .
1998
Sustainable improvement of agricultural and agro-industrial production
- Production systems.
INCO
ERBIC 18CT 960082
b) Co-ordinator, partners and suppliers
Co-ordinator
Organisation: University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Organisation Type: Education
Department: Institute of Biological Sciences
Address: Edward Llwyd Building, University of wales, Aberystwyth
Postcode: SY23 3DA
City: Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
Country: UNITED KINGDOM
Contact Person: Name: HALL, MICHAEL ANTHONY
Tel: +44-1970-622313
Fax: +44-1970-622350
Email: mzh@aber.ac.uk
Other Contractors
Organisation Name: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
Contact Person: BAILLE, ALAIN
Department: Laboratoire de Bioclimatologie
Centre de Recherche d'Avignon
Address: Domaine Saint-Paul
BP 91
City: Montfavet
Org. Country: FRANCE
Postcode: 84143
Telephone: +33-90-316079
Fax: +33-90-899810
E-mail: MBA@AVIGNON.INRA.FR
Organisation Name: Wye College
Contact Person: BURRAGE, STANLEY WALTER
Department: Horticulture Section
Department of Agriculture, Horticulture and the Environment
Address: High Street
City: Wye
Org. Country: UNITED KINGDOM
Postcode: TN25 5AH
Telephone: +44-1233-812401
Fax: +44-1233-813017
Organisation Name: Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias
Organisation Type: Non Commercial
Contact Person: MARTINEZ, PEDRO-FLORIAN
Department: Departamento de Horticultura
City: Valencia
Org. Country: SPAIN
Postcode: 46133
Telephone: +34-6-1391000
Fax: +34-6-1390240
E-mail: PFMARTI@INIA.IVIA.ES
Organisation Name: El-Bosaily Protected Cultivation Unit
Organisation Type: Research
Contact Person: ABOU-HADID, AYMAN
Address: PO Box 296
City: 12411 Imbaba
Org. Country: EGYPT
Telephone: +20-2-2201386
Fax: +20-2-2216851
Organisation Name: University of Ege
Contact Person: TUZEL, YUKSEL
Department: Department of Horticulture - Faculty of Agriculture
City: Bornova
Org. Country: TURKEY
Postcode: 35100
Telephone: +90-232-3880110
Fax: +90-232-3881864
Main tasks in the
project
Co-operation data: Role of partners:
Partners are designated as follows:
UNIVERSITY OF WALES, ABERYSTWYTH:
UWA
INRA, AVIGNON:
INRA
WYE COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON:
WYE
INSTITUTO VALENCIANO DE INVESTIGACIONES
AGRARIAS:
IVIA
EL BOSAILY PROTECTED CULTIVATION UNIT:
BOSAILY
EGE UNIVERSITY:
EUFA
Work package I : Greenhouse/plastic shelter climate control
Task I : Testing and evaluation of low cost systems for improving internal microclimate
(INRA, EUFA, BOSAILY, WYE)
Task II : Modelling and simulation of internal microclimate (INRA, EUFA, BOSAILY)
Task III : Management of microclimate (INRA)
Work package II : Water requirements and irrigation scheduling
Task I : Measurement and modelling of crop transpiration (INRA, WYE)
Task II : Irrigation scheduling (INRA, EUFA, BOSAILY, WYE)
Work package III : Crop physiology
Task I : Gaseous exchanges (INRA, EUFA, BOSAILY)
Task II : Crop yield prediction (INRA,)
Work package IV : Development of appropriate substrates and fertigation studies
Task I : Effects of nutrient solution salinity on nutrient uptake and distribution within the
plant (IVIA)
Task II : Effect of climatic conditions on water and nutrient uptake and distribution (IVIA)
Task III : Selection, preparation and characterisation of local substrate materials (EUFA,
BOSAILY)
Task IV : Testing of substrate materials on growth and development of selected crop
varieties in DCs (EUFA, BOSAILY)
Task V: Comparison of nutrient film technique with substrate materials on growth and
development (EUFA, BOSAILY, WYE)
Work package V : Selection and screening of cultivars in relation to growth, development
and post harvest stability
Task I : Screening of growth and development of cultivars (UWA, EUFA, BOSAILY)
Task II : Screening of post harvest stability, chemical treatments (UWA, EUFA, BOSAILY)
Main supplier
Items supplied
N/A
N/A
c) Aims and objectives
The main objectives are as follows:
* To develop suitable systems for horticultural production on marginal land in the context of the
problems of water availability and quality, fluctuating temperatures and soil characteristics; to
select appropriate plant varieties adapted to the prevailing conditions and through studies on postharvest physiology to develop methods to enhance fruit stability and quality and hence
transportability and exportability.
* Development of appropriate greenhouse / plastic shelter climate control, to include testing and
evaluation of low cost systems, modelling and simulation of internal microclimate and its
management.
* Assessment of water requirements of the crops to include measurement and modelling of crop
transpiration and irrigation scheduling; investigations on crop physiology under the known
adverse conditions to include work on gaseous exchanges and crop yield prediction.
* Development of soil and soilless culture techniques to include sand-based culture.
* Selection of appropriate plant varieties to include work on plant growth and development and
on fruit quality in response to the established environmental factors and transportability.
* Development and testing of appropriate ways and means to involve local farmers and local
SMEs in the development of intensive horticultural production.
d) Situation of the project
Description:
The key activities developed are:
-Testing and evaluation of low cost systems for the improvement of internal microclimate;
modelling of energy and mass balance enabling simulations of internal microclimate and
evaluations of performance of greenhouse equipment.
- Preparation of a blueprint for crop management.
-Studies on the water requirements of the crops, development of irrigation scheduling.
- Studies on the effect of the environment on crop physiology in relation to fruit quality and postharvest stability.
- Studies on substrate suitability.
-Selection of appropriate cultivars.
Phase of advancement: in progress .
Dates of beginning and conclusion 01/01/97-30/06/00 (extension granted)
Innovative technology (if foreseen) . 1) Computerised blueprint for crop management.
2) Automated irrigation contoller.
3) Chemometric methods for determination of
fruit quality.
4) Software for irrigation controlling.
Supplier Country, town. N/A
e) Open field for photos and graphic material
These will be scanned and sent to you as a separate attachment called 'photos'
f) Results and achievements

f1)Energy saving projects, substitution projects, power production projects
Energy/year saved or substituted or produced in TOE/year if thermal energy, in
electric energy. .Not estimable

MWh/y if
f2) Environmental and social impact
CO2 emissions (t/year) .N/A
SO2 reduction (t/year) .N/A
Other effects .
The outcomes of the project should have significant socio-economic impact in improving the
livelihood of Turkish and Egyptian horticulturists (mainly smallholders) by providing blueprints for
production in the two areas. This involves information on best practice in terms of plastic house
ventilation, irrigation, suitable growth substrates as well as computer modules relating to time of
harvest and quality control. Additionally,the production of a cheap, computerised irrigation
controller will be helpful to farmers.
 f3) Economic data
Investments up to now (€uro) .None
Investments (foreseen) -.
EC funding .NOT KNOWN
Pay back (years) . Comment on investments , turnover and profits (if any) of the supplier and user.
.
N/A
g)Co-operation Data
Role of the partners (host, supplier and key enablers) . Innovative technology. Computerised
blueprint for crop management. New chemometric methods for determination of fruit quality.
Automated irrigation controller. Software for irrigation scheduling.
Technology transfer (description of the technology, name of the supplier) .N/A
Localisation of the applied technology/plant.N/A
Characteristics of the non-EU area (short description) .
Characteristics of the non-EU countries
The areas on which the present proposal focuses are Mediterranean Turkey and the El Bosaily region of Northern
Egypt. The socio-economic problems are very similar. Thus, there has been a marked drift from the land in the past 30
years; in Turkey the population has doubled but the rural population has fallen from 68% to 41% of the total; the
situation in Egypt is very similar, there has also been a major expansion of tourism in both areas. In both countries a
large part of the horticultural production is in the hands of smallholders (<0.2ha) with minimal financial resources.
These factors have had a number of significant impacts including an erosion of high quality agricultural land because of
housing development, significant regional problems in water availability and quality and increased demand for locallygrown products. Clearly, sustainable exploitation of marginal land with low capital inputs is vital if production is to be
maintained or increased. Equally, it is important that fruit quality and post-harvest stability be improved in order to
allow the two DCs to exploit appropriate export markets and to enhance profitability and security for the smallholders.
These are priorities established by both the Egyptian and the Turkish Governments. A successful outcome would
produce approaches applicable to the whole of the E. Mediterranean area and beyond. It should also be noted that,
while the socio-economic conditions are dissimilar, the outcome has relevance for similar areas in the EU.
Despite the difficulties there are certain natural advantages in the two areas of which the single most important is the
relative mildness of the winters enabling two season production. There are also groups of experienced and enthusiastic
smallholders who are proficient in exploiting what are relatively hostile environments and who themselves can provide
inputs valuable to the overall project.
While the environments in the two areas in the DCs are similar in some respects there are significant differences. In
Egypt, the area selected is one of coastal sand dunes where there is a long established but subsistence level
horticulture industry utilising saline water from drainage canals which would otherwise go to waste. In Turkey the
horticultural areas are more varied but the problem of fluctuating day night temperatures and low night temperatures in
the two growing seasons (September - January, February - June) are more extreme as are problems with high humidity
Solutions to these problems will add value through increasing the regional applicability of the work
Relevant aspects of the co-operation and best practices
The overall scientific and technical approaches proposed here are well-established but their application to the particular
environments (both social and abiotic) is much more novel. Moreover the proposal seeks to combine and modify EU
technology with local scientific and horticultural expertise, materials, plant varieties and agrobusiness. Equally, as
noted above, the outcome has relevance for agriculturalists in the EU.
While the scientific value in terms of research capability may be self-evident for the partners from Turkey and Egypt it
is equally true that the experience gained by the EU partners will greatly enhance their own scientific base. In this
connection, a key aspect of the proposal is that the exchange of young scientists has been in both directions.
Scientists from EU countries, including those associated with the proposal, have been involved on an individual basis
with DCs in the Mediterranean area but only rarely has the expertise across the board in the essential areas been
deployed; this proposal embraces expertise not only in horticulture itself but also in plant physiology and biochemistry
and to an extent in plant breeding. Equally, the two-way flow of young scientists within a single project is a novel and
constructive aspect. As noted in section 2, it is intended that while the leadership of the project will, naturally, lie with
the scientists in charge, the young scientists involved will have the opportunity of interacting as a group and presenting
proposals to the co-ordinator and management group.
The outcome of the work has potential applications throughout the Mediterranean region and indeed in other similar
climatic zones.
The project has involved extensive interchange between the partners, including mobility of young people. There have
been regular meetings and the partners were also active in organising an ISHS meeting in Turkey on protected
cultivation in 1997.
h) Potential application
Potential application:
Apart from basic applied information on matters such as the most suitable substrates and methods of greehouse
ventilation as applied to the DCs there are four aspects of innovative technology which have potential application:
1) Computerised blueprint for crop management (INRA).
This model is designed to provide a simple means of predicting yield and optimising cropping techniques for tomatoes
under protected cultivation. The system, which is still under development, is being trialled in Egypt.
2)
Automated irrigation controller (WYE)
This is now in the second prototype phase and should result in a low cost reliable irrigation controller with appropriate
sensors for protected cultivation which will cope with the requirements of the Mediterranean climate.
3)
Chemometric methods for determination of fruit quality (UWA)
Using pyrolysis mass spectrometry (PyMS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy together with
advanced bioinformatics software it has proved possible to discriminate between fruits grown under different
environmental conditions and hence be related to quality as assessed by, for example, taste panels. The approach has
potential large-scale applications.
4)
Software for irrigation controlling (BOSAILY)
This software, named IRRICLAC, into which may be input meteorological data, soil type, crop and crop age permits a
rapid calculation of how much and how often to irrigate.
It is now being trialled extensively in Egypt but is applicable to any area and is especially useful where water resources
are limiting.
i) General comments
The answer could be structured with four possible reasons:
The management .
The co-operation experience
Funding and eventual.
OPET support.
Other promotional measures.
The project can be considered a success so far on several grounds.
Firstly, the co-operation between the partners has been of a high order with a free exchange of information and
personnel. The updated web page- http://www.aber.ac.uk/~hej93/index.html managed by one of the young people in
the project, provides widespread dissemination.
Secondly, a number of practical applications are arising from the work ranging from optimisation of agronomic factors
such as ventilation and substrate composition to more specific deliverables such as those described above under
potential application. In both Egypt and Turkey attention has been paid to technology transfer to enable local growers
to take advantage of these discoveries.
j) Contact person for further information
Name
HALL, Michael Anthony.
Telephone no.
+44-1970-622313
Telefax no.
+44-1970-622350