María Solano-Betancour
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
Research Interests
María Solano-Betancour has a total of 5 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Calina Borgovan
Department of Agronomy, ceiA3, Center for Research in Mediterranean Intensive Agrosystems and Agri-Food Biotechnology (CIAMBITAL), Almeria University (UAL), 04120 Almería, Spain
1 shared publication - Carlos Alberto González Murillo
Department of Civil and Agricultural Engineering, National University of Colombia, Bogotá 45-03, Colombia
1 shared publication - Manuel Felipe López Mora
Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary, Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (UASLP), Soledad de Graciano Sánchez 78321, Mexico
1 shared publication - María Fernanda Quintero-Castellanos
Laboratorio de Biotecnología, Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Soledad de Graciano Sánchez 78439, SLP, Mexico
1 shared publication - Miguel Guzmán
Department of Agronomy, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario, ceiA3, Almeria University, La Cañada, 04120 Almeria, Spain
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 26 September 2025
- Published by MDPI AG in Biology and Life Sciences Forum
- Vol. 47 (1) , 5
Resource Efficiency of Swiss Chard Crop in Vertical Hydroponic Towers Under Greenhouse Conditions
Resource efficiency is essential in today’s approach to horticulture. The global problems of water scarcity, soil pollution, biodiversity loss, and rapid growth of the global population require increased food production with fewer resources. Resource efficiency is an indicator that allows defining how much biomass an agri-food system can produce per unit of the resource used. Closed hydroponic systems, such as vertical hydroponic towers (VHTs), exhibit high resource efficiency. In these systems, the water use efficiency (WUE) and the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) can be calculated in terms of the water loss through transpiration and the ion concentration in the nutrient solution. The research aimed to determine the WUE and NUE for chard crops in VHT under greenhouse conditions and to evaluate its feasibility as an urban and peri-urban system for leafy vegetable production. Trials were carried out with chard in the fall 2024 in a tunnel-type greenhouse at the facilities of the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi. The VHTs were built with a 20 L square lower deposit on which a cylindrical pipeline of 11.5 cm in diameter and 1.6 m in height was vertically placed. Each pipe had 45 growing containers distributed on 15 levels of three containers spaced vertically 9 cm and a density of 25 plants·m−2. The experimental design was completely randomized with three treatments (75, 100, and 125% of Steiner’s nutrient solution) and three replications. The transpiration (Tr) of the crop (recording weight loss in the deposit) and the shoot fresh weight (SFW) of the plants were measured daily using a scale. An ANOVA and Tukey’s test for mean differentiation were performed with p < 0.05. Significant differences were found between treatments for SFW, WUE and NUE obtaining the best results at 75% of Steiner’s nutrient solution. Results show that WUE increased between 3 and 6 times, and NUE between 3 and 12 times compared to chard grown in soil. These results were equal and even higher than horizontal hydroponic systems or vertical farms. Vertical hydroponic closed towers installed in greenhouses are an optimal horticultural production system with high resources use efficiency. The implementation of VHT is feasible in areas where there is water scarcity or have a high population density.
- 26 September 2025
- Published by MDPI AG in Biology and Life Sciences Forum
- Vol. 47 (1) , 5
Open AccessResource Efficiency of Swiss Chard Crop in Vertical Hydroponic Towers Under Greenhouse Conditions
Resource efficiency is essential in today’s approach to horticulture. The global problems of water scarcity, soil pollution, biodiversity loss, and rapid growth of the global population require increased food production with fewer resources. Resource efficiency is an indicator that allows defining how much biomass an agri-food system can produce per unit of the resource used. Closed hydroponic systems, such as vertical hydroponic towers (VHTs), exhibit high resource efficiency. In these systems, the water use efficiency (WUE) and the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) can be calculated in terms of the water loss through transpiration and the ion concentration in the nutrient solution. The research aimed to determine the WUE and NUE for chard crops in VHT under greenhouse conditions and to evaluate its feasibility as an urban and peri-urban system for leafy vegetable production. Trials were carried out with chard in the fall 2024 in a tunnel-type greenhouse at the facilities of the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi. The VHTs were built with a 20 L square lower deposit on which a cylindrical pipeline of 11.5 cm in diameter and 1.6 m in height was vertically placed. Each pipe had 45 growing containers distributed on 15 levels of three containers spaced vertically 9 cm and a density of 25 plants·m−2. The experimental design was completely randomized with three treatments (75, 100, and 125% of Steiner’s nutrient solution) and three replications. The transpiration (Tr) of the crop (recording weight loss in the deposit) and the shoot fresh weight (SFW) of the plants were measured daily using a scale. An ANOVA and Tukey’s test for mean differentiation were performed with p < 0.05. Significant differences were found between treatments for SFW, WUE and NUE obtaining the best results at 75% of Steiner’s nutrient solution. Results show that WUE increased between 3 and 6 times, and NUE between 3 and 12 times compared to chard grown in soil. These results were equal and even higher than horizontal hydroponic systems or vertical farms. Vertical hydroponic closed towers installed in greenhouses are an optimal horticultural production system with high resources use efficiency. The implementation of VHT is feasible in areas where there is water scarcity or have a high population density.