At the dusk of 24th October 2019, the first section of greenhouse horticultural series training course, jointly organized by LAD and WUR successfully came to the end. Over 40 participants from greenhouse related enterprises, government and institutions together with their mentors Dr. Cecilia Stanghellini and Dr. Esteban José Baeza from WUR successfully completed this 4 days systematic training course.
The first section of the training course focus on the climate control and management of the greenhouse. On the first day, the participants studied the effect of radiation on both crops and the greenhouse inside climate, as well as the impact of greenhouse types and cover materials on greenhouse energy efficiency. They also did exercises for greenhouse heat balance calculation. The mentors introduced the different effects of natural ventilation under different local climate conditions and different ways of window design, as well as the corresponding management techniques and control strategies. On the third day, the mentors gave in-depth explanations of the methods/systems of greenhouse warming and cooling. Together with participants, they discussed how to select and manage these methods/systems in different climate regions. The fourth day of the course were aiming to guide students applying the knowledge they have learned, designing, optimizing climate control strategies and evaluating the cost-benefit.
What you have learned from this course, is not only the theoretical knowledge explained by mentors, but also the independent way of thinking and skills for solving the practical issues by exercises. The course schedule was planned with sufficient time for questions between each small section. This was designed to stimulate the trainees asking questions actively, in order to solve their doubts when they are still “warm”. By applying such active-interaction training method, the participants were more actively involved into the lecture. Compared with the traditional teaching method, this method shortened the distance between teachers and students. It created a more comfortable atmosphere, you were not be taught, but more like solving issues with your friends or colleagues by sharing knowledge.
At the end of the course, the training was successfully completed in the certificate award ceremony. At last, trainees and mentors took group photos. The participants were satisfied with the training contents and the well-organizing, and they were looking forward to the follow-up training courses.
