Asparagus is a potential greenhouse crop, and its production is considerably affected by temperature and light, especially in the summer season. This study investigated the effects of the application of near-infrared (NIR)-reflective diffusion coating on a simple plastic greenhouse on microclimatic conditions, plant response, spear yield, and quality of the asparagus plant in central Taiwan. The results showed that NIR-reflective diffusion coating reduced the mean air temperature inside the greenhouse by 0.3 to 0.9 °C and leaf temperature by 2.3, 2.4, and 2.4 °C at a canopy height of 50, 100, and 50 cm, respectively. Although the accumulated daily light integral (DLI) transmitted in the coated greenhouse exhibited an 18.9% reduction compared with a 16.8% reduction in the noncoated greenhouse, a more uniform spatial light distribution was noted. Therefore, photosynthesis improved in the middle and bottom canopy, and plants could maintain a higher transpiration rate, thus resulting in atmospheric cooling. The average spear yield increased by 31.4% in summer and by 10.1% during the following harvest with a lower crude fiber (CF) content and higher Ca as well as Mg contents. In addition, the number of newly emerged shoots increased by 48.8% after the removal of the mother stalk under coating. NIR-reflective diffusion coating can be used as an energy-saving method for enhancing cooling and improving light use efficiency, thus increasing asparagus production in a greenhouse in summer.

The cabbage cultivar ‘K-Y cross’ is the most important vegetable crop in Taiwan, but it is not easy to produce through the whole year because of the hot summer. For year-round supply, the different postharvest methods such as precooling and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) were applied to extend the storage period. The respiration rate and ethylene production were measured in a wide range of temperatures from 1 to 30 °C, and the end of precooling temperature was recommended to be around 7 °C (3/4 precooling times). Vacuum precooling (VC) took cabbages only 30 min to decrease from around 27 °C to 7 °C, which was 19 times faster than room precooling (RC). After 3/4 precooling times, temperature distribution from surface to central parts of cabbages was shown to be more uniform by VC than that by RC. After VC, the MAP was applied to maintain the quality traits of cabbages. The passive MAP could decrease the weight loss, yellowing, and physiological disorders and maintain around 2% O₂ and 4% CO₂ in the 0.03 mm LDPE bags at 1 °C after 12-week storage. Therefore, the quality of cabbages could be maintained over 3 months by combing VC and passive MAP.

Grafting is one of the main techniques used in intensive tomato cultivation to address abnormal weather, diseases, insect pests, and continuous cropping problems. In recent years, due to agricultural labor constraints, the industry has needed to make use of more machinery. In this study, a clamping and cutting arrangement device for Solanaceae scion and stock seedlings was developed; it included a UR5 robotic arm to realize the automatic clamping and cutting of multiple seedlings, to facilitate the mechanized grafting of seedlings. The clamping success rate of eggplant and tomato seedlings using this device was 99%. When working with four seedlings in a single operation, the oblique-cutting success rates for eggplant and tomato seedlings were 97.76% and 94.55%, respectively. Moreover, 404 eggplant seedlings and 384 tomato seedlings could be worked with in 1 h. After the splicing and grafting process had been completed, the survival rate of the grafted seedlings was 85%. The simple device structure could be used by the industry to assist operators in clipping and cutting seedlings, reduce the complexity of grafting operations, shorten training times, address the problem of labor constraints in Taiwan’s agricultural industry, and improve product quality and efficiency.