Tropical and subtropical countries primary sector is now booming and, together with the more traditional crops, the production of pomegranate and berry fruits (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry) is also developing strongly. However, farmers in these countries are increasingly faced with sudden and violent climate changes, with often unpredictable consequences, due to the progressive increase in global temperatures. Arrigoni, a leading company in the production of agrotextiles, has promoted the practical Net House system, a hybrid solution between greenhouse and open field, which offers both agronomic advantages, with better temperature control, as well as economic savings, with a reduction significant cost of installation compared to greenhouse. For warmer and more unstable climates, the most effective solution is ROBUXTA, designed precisely for use in tense structures (such as mesh houses) and thanks to its resistance to abrasion.

Climate change is now a reality that all agricultural areas on the planet have to deal with, regardless of latitude and crops. The latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Special Report on global warming has shown that if the temperature continues to rise at its current rate, global warming is likely to reach 1.5 ° C between 2030 and 2052. This means, for agriculture, increasingly difficult challenges to face in all parts of the world.

With experience in manufacturing 100% green and sustainable solutions for agricultural professionals, Arrigoni offers a wide range of solutions even for the most critical areas for cultivation. In the tropical and subtropical belt, it is now therefore possible to produce valuable crops, such as berries, pomegranate and more.

One of the smartest solutions is undoubtedly the Net House or mesh house, a system that provides a more sustainable and efficient approach to growing and to which various agrotextile screens proposed by Arrigoni are perfectly adapted. Depending on the needs of the crop and the fabric that compose it, under the mesh house, in fact, the need for phytosanitary products can be reduced and at the same time the negative effect of bad weather, such as hail, strong wind and excessive insolation. In other words, it is a versatile and compromise solution between open field production and greenhouse production, which can offer many advantages over both, such as lower installation costs on the one hand and more comfortable climatic conditions for plant development by other.

For the installation of the mesh houses, it is also possible to use different innovative agrotextiles among those proposed by Arrigoni, depending on the cultivation needs and the climatic zone in which it operates. Among the ideal solutions for the tropical and subtropical strip is ROBUXTA, a thermo-reflective screen characterized by high resistance to abrasion, thanks to the additional monofilament that protects the weft raffia and prevents the latter from touching the cables of the structure. avoiding damage. Thanks to the additive LD-Light Diffusion in the raffia, this fabric increases water savings by up to 30% and, at the same time, offers a high temperature reduction and ensures the diffusion of light, useful for plant photosynthesis .

Field tests of the effectiveness of a fully ROBUXTA Net House have already recently been carried out in South Africa, on a blueberry production. At the external temperature of 34 ° C, a sheet temperature of 28 ° C corresponded under the cover. Plant growth has also proven to be regular and uniform for all areas of the plot, unlike what normally happens in polytunnels, where the lateral rows suffer from high temperatures. The only factor to consider is that, within these mesh houses, the plant cycle is longer, so an early transplant is recommended at 2 - 3 weeks before standard planting, to achieve the necessary growth in the moment of the best market prices.

Milena Poledica, Arrigoni agronomist, points out: "The challenge that global climate change poses to producers is increasingly complex and must be faced with the best technologies. At Arrigoni we have manufactured and tested solutions in the field that show great efficiency even in some of the most demanding areas of the planet from the agricultural point of view, such as the tropics and subtropics. In this way, it is possible, at a global level, to introduce crops with high commercial value, which would normally be very difficult to obtain.