As global agricultural demand increases and technology advances, agricultural textiles have developed significantly. Modern agricultural textiles have evolved from simple sun protection and pest prevention to sophisticated greenhouse environmental control.
Greenhouse climate screen production
Blackout curtains stand out among these products in modern agriculture. These high-tech curtains, typically made of aluminum foil, HDPE, and polyester yarn, are used in greenhouse curtain systems. They effectively regulate light and temperature and work with supplementary lights to simulate the necessary day and night cycles for plants, playing a crucial role in plant growth and energy conservation.
Regulating Crop Light Exposure
In modern greenhouses, blackout screen systems combined with supplementary lights can precisely control crop light exposure. This setup allows greenhouses to mimic natural light cycles, ensuring crops receive light at the right times for healthy growth. For some medical crops, which require specific light periods to flower (e.g., 12 hours or more of continuous darkness), precise control of the light cycle is essential. Combining blackout screens and supplementary lights can accurately simulate natural light cycles, promoting timely flowering.
Blackout curtain system for greenhouse
This system can adjust light intensity and spectrum based on different growth stages. For example, using more blue light during the vegetative growth stage and increasing the proportion of red light during the flowering stage optimizes growth and flowering processes.
Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection
Using blackout curtains can significantly reduce the energy consumption for heating and cooling in greenhouses, achieving energy conservation and environmental protection.
“In winter, blackout materials significantly reduce heat loss through their insulating properties, thereby decreasing the need for heating equipment and maintaining suitable temperatures. Similarly, in summer, they effectively block direct sunlight, thus lowering greenhouse temperatures and reducing the need for cooling systems.” shared John, founder of INSONGREEN, a commercial greenhouse manufacturer.
SCREENMAX LRS Series
Some blackout curtain products, like the SCREENMAX LRS A/B series, feature an aluminum foil surface that reflects sunlight, achieving up to 99% shading on sunny days and preventing excessive heating. The white reflective layer on the underside reflects light from supplementary lights back to the crops, improving light utilization efficiency. This cooling effect reduces the frequency of air conditioning use, lowers energy consumption, and significantly cuts greenhouse operating costs and carbon emissions.
Preventing Light Pollution
Nighttime light supplementation in greenhouses uses artificial light to extend light exposure, promoting plant growth. However, this can cause light pollution, harming the environment and human health by disrupting the biological clocks of plants and animals and affecting nearby residents’ health (e.g., causing insomnia, anxiety, vision problems, and immune system suppression).
Light Pollution by Modern Greenhouse
Some regions have implemented regulations to mitigate this. For example, the European Union’s “Directive on Light Pollution Prevention” (2012) aims to reduce light pollution’s impact on the environment and human health, including greenhouse nighttime light supplementation.
Using agricultural blackout curtains can effectively prevent the outward leakage of light from supplementary lights at night, ensuring nearby facilities and crops are unaffected while complying with legal regulations. Products like the SCREENMAX LRS achieve up to 99% light-blocking capability, effectively avoiding light pollution.
Conclusion
In addition to the advantages mentioned, these new agricultural textiles can include flame-retardant materials, significantly reducing greenhouse fire risks.
Blackout screens are widely used in modern greenhouses in developed countries and are gradually being promoted in developing countries. This aids global agriculture in achieving more efficient and environmentally friendly production models.
With continuous technological innovation and application, agricultural textiles will play an increasingly important role in future agricultural production, helping global agriculture move towards a greener and more sustainable d
