Highlights
Smart environmental control technology
- Pioneered greenhouse smart environmental control technology in the Dominican Republic, reducing pesticide residue on produce
- Demonstration greenhouse helps stabilize rural energy supply while optimizing internal growth environment for vegetables
Due to safety issues, 7 percent of the Dominican Republic’s agricultural exports in 2012 were returned after more stringent product inspections found high pesticide residues. This has resulted in higher exportation costs and limited industrial development. The “Dominican Greenhouse Cultivated Vegetables Health Management and Product Safety Inspection Plan” was proposed in the hopes of using Taiwan’s development experience in the field of small-scale greenhouse vegetable production and pesticide residue detection to facilitate cultivation and improve the safety, quality and yield of vegetables.
Huang Lin Machinery Co., Ltd. General Manager Hong Fu-liang said that as part of aid programs provided by Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund, the company — a pioneer in Taiwan of greenhouse automated environmental control technology — has been collaborating with the Dominican Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research’s San Jose de Ocoa research station.
The Taiwan-developed “Safety Inspection Plan” was introduced in conjunction with Huang Lin Machinery’s smart environmental control system to improve greenhouse automation. Due to a lack of knowledge and experience related to greenhouse operations in the Dominican Republic, Taiwanese experts were contracted on a short-term basis to assist in the installation of the system and train local staff, helping provide a long-term solution to problems with greenhouse cultivation in the nation.
Taiwanese experts assist in the installation of environmental control systems and solar panels to optimize rural greenhouse output
Through the program, the experts have provided assistance and training on construction of the main greenhouse structure, as well as the installation of weather stations and automated control systems, Hong said, adding that they also performed testing once the work was completed.
The experts demonstrated to local workers how to install sunroofs, shade net motors, weather stations inside and outside of the greenhouses, the automated environmental control system’s various components and remote control applications, among other equipment, Hong said.
In addition, a “Smart Environmental Control System Operation Workshop” was held to train accounting staff, Dominican Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research personnel and Dominican Ministry of Agriculture officials on the characteristics of Huang Lin Machinery’s smart environmental control system for greenhouses and how to operate its various components.
Understanding changes to the local climate — by obtaining accurate data from inside and outside the greenhouse through weather stations — is not only beneficial for experimental research, but it also helps improve the environmental control efficiency inside the facility and optimizes cultivation management of crops, Hong said.
The first demonstration greenhouse built in the Dominican Republic covers 480 square meters and was designed by the Agricultural Engineering Division of the Agricultural Research Institute under Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture. The design goal for the facility was to improve the heat dissipation capacity through a solar power supply and an environmental control system — simultaneously ameliorating the instability of rural power supplies while optimizing the ability to control the greenhouse’s internal environment, Hong said.
Patience and adaptability ensure projects are completed
Huang Lin Machinery encountered numerous challenges while working on the Dominican project, but it patiently and consistently improvised solutions, Hong said.
For example, new environmental sensors needed to be purchased for an old greenhouse being used by the control group. One-way 110V power sockets were installed separately in the old and new greenhouses — part of improvements to the protection for the automatic control box.
After surmounting these and other difficulties, the installation was completed successfully and testing was conducted of the entire greenhouse, Hong said.
As the sector has only just gotten off the ground in the Dominican Republic, there is a lack of expertise in greenhouse construction, particularly in areas such as connecting and setting drive motor limit switches, so local industry players have been subcontracting, Hong said, adding that they are hard-pressed to compete with the efficiency of Taiwanese manufacturers, whose patience and adaptability ensure projects are completed perfectly.
HUANG LIN MACHINERY CO., LTD.
Smart Agriculture
Greenhouse Smart Environmental Control Technology
Selling points:
- Improved heat dissipation through the use of solar panels and an environmental control system
- Demonstration greenhouse helps with instability of rural power supply while optimizing interior for vegetable cultivation
