Protected Horticulture

Executive Summary

The growing demand for fresh and processed horticultural products with safety and excellent quality creates an opportunity for family farmers to diversify their production, implement new agronomic management strategies, increase productivity, access high-value markets, and thereby improve their income and quality of life.

An alternative to achieve these objectives is the use of technologies associated with horticulture in protected environments. This form of production is essential in modern agricultural activities due to its strong connection with the use of cutting-edge technologies and other management strategies necessary for the production of healthy foods that meet domestic demand, agro-industry needs, and the export market.

Horticulture in protected environments provides an opportunity for family farmers to convert their traditional open-field production systems into more competitive ones, transforming marginal areas into highly productive and sustainable ones. These technologies transform traditional management methods into more competitive ones, making use of innovations in plasticulture, improved seeds, fertigation systems that enhance water and nutrient use efficiency, and thus environmental management, among others.

These technologies increase productivity, reduce production seasonality and post-harvest losses, and improve the final quality of food for consumers. However, one of the most notable characteristics is that they significantly reduce the vulnerability of horticultural systems to the impacts of extreme weather events (excessive rainfall, droughts, and frost). These phenomena are already being felt more frequently and intensely in many countries in the region and affect open-field horticultural production.

Sustainable Development Goals

Main donors