Investigating the Effect of Using Shading Net on Climate Change in Pistachio and Apricot Gardens

There are many losses in crop production each year, due to various reasons. The use of shadow nets in orchards is one of the protection solutions. In order to select the appropriate net, it is necessary to determine the main factors in plant growth to utilize from net benefits and prevent its adverse effects.. In general, light, temperature and humidity are three main effective factors in plant growth and development. In this research, a monitoring system was designed and built to monitor the changes in radiation, temperature and relative humidity inside and outside of the selected covered pistachio and apricot gardens. Wind velocity and direction outside the gardens were also measured. The measured data by the system related to these factors inside and outside the gardens was collected in a central server. Investigation of monthly graphs of changes in temperature, relative humidity and light received from apricot gardens in Shahroud and Pistachio gardens in Rafsanjan showed that the temperature inside the shading nets was lower than outside but there was no significant difference between the months records. For relative humidity and light factors, respectively the inside records were higher and lower than outside records. But no significant differences were observed between the months. In general, the study of changes in the mean values of the three factors of temperature, humidity and radiation in the whole period showed that the greatest effect of shading net in orchards was the reducing of the intensity of light received. When the wind velocity was high, the temperature inside and outside the shading net was closer to each other.