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Professional soilless cultivation systems are competitive agrosystems that use energy and materials efficiently at the highest level of sustainability that exists in modern agriculture. In Spain, soilless cultivation appeared in the 1980’s, when there were less than 100 ha cultivated with these techniques; now the areas covered reach 5,500 ha. These systems have led to technological advances in horticulture, vegetable production, gardening, and landscaping. For example, this technology has contributed to fertigation and to the global microclimatic control of greenhouses, advances that have subsequently been extrapolated to global horticulture. Central European soilless cultivation systems have been developed in other parts of the world. Here, we specifically reference soilless cultivation in Spain, especially in the Spanish Southeast, using three specific examples: 1. Mexico from the US border (e.g., Monterrey, the Sonora Desert, Tijuana, etc.) to the border with Guatemala and Belize, 2. the Maghreb (the area including Morocco, Tunisia, and nearby nations), and 3. China, the country that could become the greatest commercial power in the world. The second great green revolution consists of the application of hydroponic techniques and soilless cultivation to vegetal and urban architectures. We assume that the second great green revolution has not yet occurred but will be applied to urban environments that emulate the mythical city of Babylon in terms of development and three-dimensional architecture. There have been some recent advancements in soilless cultivation, and technologies from other fields are being adapted to soilless cultivation. These new technologies include the following: 1. the use of renewable energy (e.g., solar, solar-thermal, biomass-fired cogeneration, and geothermal), 2. more efficient artificial lighting and lower CO2 emissions, and 3. the identification of the contrast between fertigation and other activities using thermal imaging cameras.

The greenhouse industry in the province of Almeria, southeast Spain, generates more than 500000 t of solid plant residues per year. An experiment was conducted to compare compost with coconut coir waste in terms of fertigation and drainage parameters, yield and fruit quality. One tomato crop was used in the experiment. Fertigation management was adjusted for horticultural purposes after physical and physical-chemical properties were determined. Nitrate and phosphate emission from the crop was controlled. The results suggest that compost appears to be an acceptable growing media as a substitute, and similar to coconut coir waste in soilless tomato culture.

According to the data of the SOIVRE (2000), the exports of sweet pepper during 1999-2000 in Almeria were 11063178 tm. The Spanish intensive horticulture sector has to improve its competitive position in the international markets. It is therefore necessary to improve the commercial organization and to obtain suitable products for the market, with no pesticide residues whatsoever, by using environmentally friendly production methods. Pruning or thinning techniques will provide better air circulation, which helps to reduce the incidence of diseases and opens the canopies for spraying and harvesting. The pruning technique could be a method to obtain good quality sweet pepper fruits following less aggressive methods with the environment. The aim of this work is to evaluate the combination of two types of pruning techniques and two training systems. Four experiments were carried out. In the first experiment, plants were trained with three stems by removing all side shoots, then the plants were "embraced" along their entire length by two horizontal plastic wires forming a row or hedge. The second experiment was similar to the first one but plants had only two stems. During the third one, the initial handling of the pruning technique was just like the former ones, but only three main stems and all axillary shoots were removed continuously during the whole cropping cycle; these three main stems were supported by a high wire system. The fourth experiment was similar to the previous one but only with two main stems. Fruits were graded by diameter and weight, and then analyzed to determine some quality parameters such as firmness, oBrix and thickness. As a general conclusion, the use of a high wire training system with three main stems would be the most appropiate in a sweet pepper crop to obtain fruits of better quality, and higher early and total yields.