‘Revolutionary’ Greenhouse Has Roots at UK
By
Carol
Spence
 LEXINGTON,
Ky., (Jan. 10, 2007) – World-changing ideas require the
confluence of timing, vision and determination. In the years
following World War II, those three factors came together at the
University of Kentucky in the person of Emery Emmert.
A horticulture professor
in the College of Agriculture, Emmert focused on improvements in
produce production using the new plastics that were developed
during the war.
“He developed two of the
three primary practices that feed probably between 1.5 and 2
billion people a year in the world,” said Robert Anderson,
University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension professor in
horticulture. “He worked, at the time, with two or three other
people, one from Cornell and one from New York state…. And these
guys got together in the ‘50s and pretty much laid out what we
call plasticulture.”
One of the results of
Emmert’s research was the creation of the field greenhouse. The
simple structure was built from lightweight wood and clear Mylar
sheeting. Today it may not sound that technologically advanced,
but in the early 1950s it was a revolutionary concept that would
change the face of agriculture worldwide.
The field greenhouse is
known by many names. To vegetable growers it is a high tunnel.
At container nurseries, it’s called an over-wintering Quonset,
and bedding growers call it a cold frame. But no matter the
name, the technology has been used by growers around the globe
to lengthen their growing seasons, protect their crops and
increase their yields.
Oddly enough, Emmert’s
field greenhouse didn’t catch on at first in the United States.
However, Europeans and, ultimately, Asians quickly latched onto
the technology.
“I guess the main reason
is that the U.S. was all connected and an interstate highway
system was being built. So in the U.S., if we needed winter
produce, a truck simply came from Florida to Kentucky and that’s
all that was necessary,” Anderson said. “But in Europe in the
1950s you couldn’t do that. And the same is true in Asia. There
was no transportation. And even if there was transportation, it
wasn’t to a subtropical winter climate.”
European growers were
looking for a way to feed the population under the constraints
of the time. Europe was faced with post-war political
instability, the relatively small countries had limited growing
zones within their borders, and importation laws made trade
between the regions more difficult. Many Asian countries were
facing the same problems. But with Emmert’s field greenhouses,
European and Asian farmers found they could extend both their
growing seasons and their yields. Protecting their crops from
damaging rains proved to be a big advantage. Without mud
splashing on the leaves, and wind- and rain-borne debris on the
fruit, there were fewer incidences of foliar disease and crop
loss.
Anderson said that he
has traveled in South Korea and parts of Europe where it’s
possible to look across fields and see row after row of high
tunnels. It has become an inherent part of the agricultural
methodology in those regions of the world.
In the United States, 50
years after their creation, growers are beginning to take
advantage of the opportunities that high tunnels provide.
Today’s consumer is showing an interest in sustainability, in
supporting local farming economies through farmers’ markets and
in organic produce. For growers of a certain size, the high
tunnel can help them take advantage of these consumer trends and
potentially increase their income.
“I’d say the main reason
someone would have a high tunnel is if they do want to produce
fruits and vegetables – primarily vegetables – and they want to
sell in the local market,” Anderson said. “But if you’re
thinking, ‘Well, I’m going to ship to Michigan or I’m going to
ship tomatoes to Florida,’ it’s unlikely that high tunnels will
be part of that scheme.”
Some technological
advances have also made high tunnels more attractive to American
farmers. Today’s tunnels are built from metal hoops, which make
them easier and fairly inexpensive to build. Anderson said an
unheated structure would run about $2 a square foot. Like most
equipment, there is a range in the options that are offered,
with some tunnels providing additional frost protection from an
insulating layer of air between two layers of plastic. Growers
also have the option of heating the structures, which allows for
earlier planting in the spring and an extended harvest in the
fall. The effect of Emmert’s work experimenting with using
plastic in agriculture has had positive repercussions for half a
century. Anderson said that most of the produce that the world
eats is the result of plasticulture methods.
Emmert thought of his
work as a mission to feed people, “which was in many ways what
agriculture was about in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. Feeding the
world, saving people, taking care of people around the world –
that was his (Emmert’s) goal with all this,” Anderson said. “For
me, to see all those high tunnels I saw in Korea – and I know
there’s 10 times that in China – I was just so pleased to see it
and know there was this connection with somebody who was here
(at UK) 50 years ago.” |
