Pskov Region Automates Its Greenhouses
A forest nursery in Russia’s Pskov region has brought an automated greenhouse online to grow pine seedlings with a closed root system. Selected operations that determine growing conditions are now automated.
Pine seedlings are usually grown in open ground. When they are dug up for transplanting, their roots can be damaged, leaving the young trees vulnerable to disease or death. Container growing protects the root systems during transport and planting, improving the seedlings’ chances of taking hold in their new location.
From Seed to Sapling: Three Times Faster
Sudden changes in weather can damage young seedlings. That is why the smart greenhouse has its own weather station. It monitors conditions and automatically closes the ventilation windows when strong winds or precipitation begin, without requiring human intervention. Watering, too, no longer requires staff to walk the growing area with watering cans or hoses. A system travels along a two-rail track inside the greenhouse, distributing water automatically.
The greenhouse is designed to produce up to 500,000 pine seedlings a year using this automated approach. It can also deliver high-quality planting stock faster: in one year, compared with two to three years in open ground. The reported survival rate for young plants is 99%. Another important feature is that the pine trees are grown from seeds collected locally in Pskov region. This planting stock is adapted to the region’s conditions rather than brought in from a different climate zone.
Sowing the Seeds of Digital Technology
Forestry is undergoing digitalization across Russia, including greenhouse facilities that grow seedlings with closed root systems. For example, the Krasnoarmeysky forestry enterprise in Saratov region has completed an upgrade of its pine-growing greenhouses. Staff purchased a machine for sowing seeds into trays, an automated air-circulation system and irrigation systems that precisely regulate humidity at different stages of growth. The facility has doubled its capacity to 300,000 seedlings a year. In Sakhalin region, the Krasnogorsky forestry enterprise has built an experimental smart greenhouse for larch. It features mist irrigation, automatically opening ventilation windows and Wi-Fi-based microclimate monitoring, much like the systems used in a smart home.
The number of greenhouse nurseries is growing. Facilities have been built in the Republic of Chuvashia, Kemerovo region, Krasnoyarsk territory and other parts of the country. They have already produced millions of seedlings, which have been planted at their permanent sites. This year, under the federal Forest Conservation project, part of the national Environmental Well-Being project, new greenhouses for growing seedlings with closed root systems are set to be established in three Far Eastern regions: Primorsky territory, the Republic of Buryatia and Sakhalin region.
“Building new greenhouse facilities to grow planting stock with closed root systems is an important step in developing forestry in the Russian Far East. These facilities offer higher seedling survival rates and make it possible to plant throughout the growing season,” said Alexandra Bosenko, acting head of the Department of Forestry for the Far Eastern Federal District.
Deeper Into the Forest, More Technology
Russia ranks among the world’s top three countries for forest regeneration. Over the past 27 years, forest regeneration has covered about 1.5 million hectares. That figure is expected to reach 2 million hectares by 2030, according to data from Russian Agricultural Bank. The ratio of regenerated forest area to logged area is set to reach 112%.
At least 30% of artificial and combined forest regeneration must use seedlings or saplings grown with closed root systems, under a rule adopted by Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Container growing protects roots during transport, increasing the chances that seedlings will take hold in their new location. It also makes planting stock available sooner for forest restoration. Smart greenhouses offer long-term benefits: more resilient forest regeneration, landscape preservation and the development of forestry. The digital techniques developed at these facilities could also be applied when modernizing other forest nurseries across Russia.
