Optimizing Carbon Dioxide Enrichment to Improve Fruit Quality and Expand Local Opportunities for Controlled Environment Strawberry Production

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Commodities

• Fruits: berries (strawberries)

Practices

• Crop Production: greenhouses, varieties and cultivars
• Education and Training: participatory research
• Energy: energy conservation/efficiency
• Farm Business Management: market study, value added
• Sustainable Communities: food access and security, urban agriculture

Severe climatic conditions, widespread urbanization, and demand for fresh local food have driven rapid growth of controlled environment agriculture (CEA).  This technology-based approach has the potential for year-round, reliable, and local crop production.  Optimizing production inputs (e.g., fertilizer, electric lighting) to enhance crop yield and quality provides an economic incentive for growers while also providing environmental benefits by reducing unnecessary natural resource use.  However, a need exists for crop-specific production protocols in CEA to optimize significant production inputs, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂).  Additionally, while production protocols currently exist for many leafy greens, limited information is available for emerging, more nutritionally robust CEA crops, such as strawberry.  The goal of the proposed research is to evaluate the impact of CO₂ enrichment on strawberry yield and quality to better understand the extent to which this input is beneficial for indoor production.  Our project will integrate high resolution photosynthesis data with novel phytochemical profiling to elucidate how strawberry utilizes CO₂ during the reproductive growth phase and the impacts on fruit number, size, marketability, and ultimately, profitability.  We plan to creatively influence wider adoption of CEA strawberry production through community-driven science, specifically, sensory analysis with local Denver residents.  Increasing opportunities for the community to participate in agriculture has social implications.  Addressing inequities surrounding secure, reliable, and fresh food access will enhance quality of life and human health in Denver and beyond.  The outcomes of the project will be cultivar-specific, everbearing strawberry CO₂ enrichment protocols for CEA production, which will be shared broadly with existing and aspiring growers nationally at conferences, regionally at western agricultural producer gatherings, and locally through educational outreach events organized at the Colorado State University (CSU) Spur campus.  Our research will ultimately contribute to both economically viable crop diversification in CEA and improved sustainability through increased resource use efficiency.

Research Objectives

The overall objective of this research is to develop and disseminate specific CO₂ protocols for controlled environment production of everbearing strawberries that will enhance yield and fruit quality.  We will grow two cultivars of strawberry under ambient and enriched CO₂ concentrations during the reproductive growth stage to achieve the following sub-objectives:

1. Compare the morphological and physiological responses throughout the reproductive growth stage for plants grown under ambient and enriched CO₂ concentrations. 
2. Quantify the impact of enriched CO₂ concentrations on fruit yield and morphology.
3. Evaluate the impact of an enriched CO₂ concentration on fruit quality attributes.

Educational Objectives

The objective of the educational component of this research is to coordinate and lead educational activities that promote interest and engagement in controlled environment strawberry production in Denver, Colorado.  We will achieve this using the following sub-objectives:

1. Provide CO₂ enrichment guidelines for CEA strawberry production to existing and aspiring producers.
2. Promote interest and engagement in CEA strawberry production and expansion in Denver.