When we think of LED technology , we associate it with LED lighting , that is, with efficient lighting found in streets, restaurants, hotels or in our own homes. On the other hand, this technology is advancing every day and its benefits are beginning to be used in other sectors.
A good example of this can be found in the horticulture sector, where in recent years advances have been developed that have integrated the LED technology in the development of crop plants.
One of the most significant projects in this field has been developed by the Russian company Agro-invest, which has promoted the largest LED lighting project horticultural history in its complex of greenhouses located in the city of Lyudinovo, 350 kilometers southwest of Moscow.
More than 120,000 luminaires have been installed in this project, illuminating a greenhouse cultivation area of 25 hectares (an area equivalent to 40 football fields). This will allow product growth throughout the year, allowing both an increase in yields and consequent savings of 50% in energy costs compared to conventional lighting. Through LED technology , the right amount of light is delivered to each plant, exactly when and where the plant needs it, with less radiation.
The advantages of LED lighting in horticulture
The LED lighting generates a great potential in the production at intensive level in greenhouses, for its effect of promoting vegetative growth and for being able to regulate the flowering of many plant species, due to its high efficiency in emitting the different luminous intensities that plants require in their growth process.
The LED lighting in this sector has a great advantage over other types of lighting, such as greater efficiency in the use of energy, a longer useful life, a smaller size and therefore more adaptable to the facilities where these plants are cultivated, greater resistance and a reduction in electricity costs, which until now have been quite high in this type of facilities.
Therefore, the LED lighting offers great advantages to the horticultural sector, so it will become a lighting alternative of great potential in the commercial production of plants and vegetables as a light source by causing significant differences in the management and productivity of crops.