Research on Plant Production in Greenhouse and Plant Factory Systems—2nd Edition

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Artificial Intelligence and Digital Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 512

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Horticulture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 613000, China
Interests: design and intelligent control of plant production system; greenhouse; controlled environment; energy saving; aerodynamics; vertical farming
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Guest Editor
Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610213, China
Interests: plant factory; LED lighting; speed breeding; nutritional quality; secondary metabolism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due to the effects of uncertain climate factors in crop growth, advanced technologies have come to play an increasingly significant role in agricultural production. An intelligent greenhouse and plant factory system, in combination with the greenhouse and plant factory, intelligent equipment such as sensors, and the Internet of Things, can successfully optimize the crop growth environment. Through the precise monitoring of crop growth conditions such as temperature, moisture, and sunlight, agricultural workers can adjust indoor artificial lights and control irrigation frequency to regulate crop photosynthesis, accelerate crop breeding under controllable environments, and enhance secondary metabolism for quality improvement—thereby boosting water use efficiency, yield, and nutritional value of fruits and vegetables. Compared with traditional greenhouses, intelligent, automated, and scientific greenhouses and plant factories have become indispensable parts of modern agriculture. However, intelligent greenhouse and plant factory systems are inevitably characterized by high costs and difficult operations, preventing many farmers from taking advantage of the convenience they offer.

This Special Issue will collect a range of articles and reviews associated with the greenhouse and plant factory environmental control system and smart farming. Potential topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Greenhouse and plant factory environment simulation;
  • Temperature and heat control;
  • Sunlight control and artificial light applications;
  • Water use monitoring and irrigation management;
  • Crop nutrient monitoring and sustainable fertilization;
  • The design and operation of smart greenhouse and plant factory systems;
  • The economic and biological benefits of intelligent greenhouse and plant factory production;
  • Speed crop breeding under controllable environment;
  • Regulation of crop photosynthesis;
  • Secondary metabolism and quality improvement of crops.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Wei Lu
Dr. Chengbo Zhou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • greenhouse
  • plant factory
  • controlled environment
  • precision agriculture
  • artificial light
  • environment simulation
  • crop photosynthesis
  • crop improvement
  • crop breeding

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 4152 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Greenhouse Structure Parameters Based on Temperature and Velocity Distribution Characteristics by CFD—A Case Study in South China
by Xinyu Wei, Yizhi Ou, Ziwei Li, Jiaming Guo, Enli Lü, Fengxi Yang, Yanhua Liu and Bin Li
Agriculture 2025, 15(15), 1660; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15151660 - 1 Aug 2025
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Abstract
Greenhouses are applied to mitigate the deleterious effects of inclement weather, which facilitates the optimal growth and development of the crops. South China has a climate characterized by high temperature and high humidity, and the temperature and relative humidity inside a Venlo greenhouse [...] Read more.
Greenhouses are applied to mitigate the deleterious effects of inclement weather, which facilitates the optimal growth and development of the crops. South China has a climate characterized by high temperature and high humidity, and the temperature and relative humidity inside a Venlo greenhouse are higher than those in the atmosphere. In this paper, the numerical model of the flow distribution of a Venlo greenhouse in South China was established using the CFD method, which mainly applied the DO model, the k-e turbulence model, and the porous medium model. The porous resistance characteristics of tomatoes were obtained through experimental research. The inertial resistances of tomato plants in the x, y, and z directions were 80,000,000, 18,000,000, and 120,000,000, respectively; the viscous resistances of tomato plants in the x, y, and z directions were 0.43, 0.60, and 0.63, respectively. The porosity of tomato plants was 0.996. The average difference between the temperature of the established numerical model and the experimental temperature was less than 0.11 °C, and the average relative error was 2.72%. This research also studied the effects of five management and structure parameters on the velocity and temperature distribution in a greenhouse. The optimal inlet velocity is 1.32 m/s, with the COF of velocity and temperature being 9.23% and 1.18%, respectively. The optimal skylight opening is 1.76 m, with the COF of velocity and temperature being 10.68% and 0.88%, respectively. The optimal side window opening is 0.67 m, with the COF of velocity and temperature being 9.25% and 2.10%, respectively. The optimal side window height is 1.18 m, with the COF of velocity and temperature being 9.50% and 1.33%, respectively. The optimal planting interval is 1.40 m, with the COF of velocity and temperature being 15.29% and 0.20%, respectively. The results provide a reference for the design and management of Venlo greenhouses in South China. Full article
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