Greenhouse sector assessment in Azerbaijan and prospects for sustainable development

Abstract

Azerbaijan has three major greenhouse vegetable production areas: the western part of the country (mainly Ganja and Shamkir regions); the central region (mainly Absheron peninsula); and the southern region Lankaran and Astara area. Of the about 280 hectares of greenhouses in Azerbaijan, about 20% are antiquated Soviet style greenhouses, many of which are currently being updated and repaired by their owners. New structures of Israeli, Dutch, Turkish and Italian companies have been built or are in the planning stages of construction. Finally, about 30% are home built polyethylene covered greenhouses with mixed wooden and steel frame materials, while low tunnels also exist. The majority of greenhouse cultivation systems in Azerbaijan, regardless of geographic location, consist of fundamental climate control components, and depending on their design and complexity, they can provide a greater or lesser amount of climate control, and subsequent plant growth and productivity. The climograph of Baku shows that greenhouses in Baku, if year round cultivation is needed, will have to be equipped at least with heating and ventilation systems while cooling systems during summer period would be also preferable. The main constraints for greenhouse cultivations in Azerbaijan are heating and cooling since it is considered that climate conditions inside the rudimentarily equipped greenhouses do not meet crop needs for optimal growing. No absolute solutions are available since variations in design and past maintenance may exist. Energy conservation is also necessary since the above greenhouses are not equipped at all with energy saving systems. In this paper, an effort to suggest the appropriate design of greenhouses and their equipment suitable for the region is made, and guidelines on the step up of the supply chain management for the sustainable development of the greenhouse sector in Azerbaijan are given.