Investigation of Climatic Conditions of Greenhouse Complex under Construction in Alborz Province of Iran

Economics is the science of selecting and allocating limited resources to meet unlimited human needs. This allocation will be efficient and optimal when it is based on principles. In the country, some greenhouses have been made without studying the climatology and topography of the regions, so high production costs, lack of sales markets and processing industries are among the main problems that these greenhouses are faced to. Therefore, in this study, the climatic suitability of the region for greenhouse complex development in Alborz province of Iran was studied. The geographical areas under study were Zahirabad, Chupanabad and Mahdasht in Alborz province. For the study, the variables including mean monthly temperature, maximum monthly temperature, minimum monthly temperature, monthly relative humidity and monthly solar radiation were collected from meteorological stations in a 20-year time period (1999-2019). The results showed that greenhouses located in Alborz province need active heating systems for at least five months per year, while this is comparatively one month in Almeria and three months in Antalya in Turkey. Moreover, the greenhouses need four months per year an efficient cooling systems. This may increase the costs. In addition, the study area was found within the allowable limit in terms of solar radiation. The results show that the suitability of constructing greenhouses in Alborz province is very low in terms of global indicators. Managing and constructing a greenhouse traditionally (using physical five senses) is a costly task. Therefore the use of automatic climate control systems is essential to reduce greenhouse costs.