Preface

Soilless culture is the modern cultivation system of plants that use either inert organic or inorganic sub‐ strate through nutrient solution nourishment. It is possibly the most intensive culture system utilizing all the resources efficiently for maximizing yield of crops and the most intense form of agricultural en‐ terprises for commercial production of greenhouse vegetables. In fact, this an alternative cultivation sys‐ tem to traditional have been introduced to avoid soil related problem such as soil exhaustion, soil-borne diseases, secondary salinity development and to improve plant growth condition such as temperature and aeration of root zone, optimal distribution of water and nutrients, and also to reduce the amount of labor needed. This protected cultivation system can control the growing environment through manage‐ ment of weather factors, amount and composition of nutrient solution and also the growing medium. Therefore, quality of horticultural crops grown through soilless culture improves significantly com‐ pared to conventional soil culture. Production or biosynthesis of bioactive compounds will largely be depending upon the manipulation of physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the substrates that must correlate with water and fertilizer supply, climatic conditions and plant demand. Various modification of pure solution culture has been taken place over time throughout the world. Primarily, gravel or sand was used in soilless culture system to provide plant support and retain mineral nutrient and water. Afterward, several substrates have been used for their unique properties of holding mois‐ ture, aeration, leaching or capillary action, and reuse potentiality. Organic substrates includes sawdust, coco peat, peat moss, woodchips, fleece, marc, bark etc. whereas, inorganic substrate of natural origin are perlite, vermiculite, zeolite, gravel, rockwool, sand, glass wool, pumice, sepiolite, expanded clay, volcanic tuff and synthetically produced substrates are hydrogel, foam mates or polyurethane, oasis or plastic foam etc.

This book is targeted at commercial vegetables and ornamentals growers who are thinking of increasing the efficiency and quality of their agricultural produce through modifications of the environmental con‐ trols, management of culture systems and use of technological innovations. It describes the design and preparation of nutrient solution used for soilless culture, influence of growing substrate on physiologi‐ cal processes, yield and quality of vegetables. This work is also devoted to describing growing sub‐ strates alternative to peat for ornamental plants, suggesting substrate water scarce area with key technologies of increasing irrigation efficiency of successful crop production. This book will provide much valuable information for the commercial growers, researchers, and the students of the field.

The publication of this book would have been impossible without the dedication and hard work of many researchers around the globe. All acknowledgements go to the authors of these chapters, who volunteered their valuable time to contribute to this book.

> **Dr. Md. Asaduzzaman** Olericulture Division, Horticulture Research Centre, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur-1701, Bangladesh
