why you should consider having a greenhouse structure at the comfort of your farm
by moiz
20th may2025
are you tired of having food insecurities?
with agribusiness becoming one of the major investment opportunities for kenyans, the demand for greenhouses has risen significantly with many people looking to start greenhouse farming in kenya. more and more people are investing into this business with the hope of making good returns from it. to manage the challenges of rainfall, degraded land and decreasing land sizes, i urge farmers to go for greenhouse.
a greenhouse, a protected space for growing vegetables, plants and crops, is a prime real estate, so one should choose crops to maximize profits and produce crops that don’t do well outside. one advantage of using a greenhouse is that farmers can grow vegetables and crops at any time of the year – when they can’t be grown outdoors. this is because it allows them to extend the seasons and produce a wide range of vegetables.
greenhouse effect
in general, the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 0.035% (345 ppm). but, due to
the emission of pollutants and exhaust gases into the atmosphere, the percentage of carbon
dioxide increases which forms a blanket in the outer atmosphere. this causes the entrapping of
the reflected solar radiation from the earth surface. due to this, the atmospheric temperature
increases, causing global warming, melting of
ice caps and rise in the ocean levels which
result in the submergence of coastal lines. this
phenomenon of increase in the ambient
temperature, due to the formation of the blanket
of carbon dioxide is known as greenhouse
effect.
the greenhouse covering material acts in a
similar way, as it is transparent to shorter
wave radiation and opaque to long wave radiation.
during the daytime, the shorter wave radiation enters into the greenhouse and gets
reflected from the ground surface. this reflected radiation becomes long wave radiation and is
entrapped inside the greenhouse by the covering material. this causes the increase in the
greenhouse temperature. it is desirable effect from point of view of crop growth in the cold
regions.
advantages of greenhouses
the following are the different advantages of using the green house for growing crops under
controlled environment:
1. throughout the year four to five crops can be grown in a greenhouse due to availability of
required plant environmental conditions.
2. the productivity of the crop is increased considerably.
3. superior quality produce can be obtained as they are grown under suitably controlled
environment.
4. gadgets for efficient use of various inputs like water, fertilizers, seeds and plant
protection chemicals can be well maintained in a green house.
5. effective control of pests and diseases is possible as the growing area is enclosed.
6. percentage of germination of seeds is high in greenhouses.
7. the acclimatization of plantlets of tissue culture technique can be carried out in a green
house.