Sustainable Practices in Smart Greenhouses

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing demand for high-quality, sustainable, and eco-friendly production has brought smart greenhouse solutions into focus. By integrating renewable energy, precision irrigation, IoT monitoring, artificial intelligence, and a circular resource model, smart greenhouses provide ways to promote eco-friendly land use and resource management, leading to lower environmental impacts and sustainable crop yields. We welcome submissions of original research papers, reviews, and case studies on new technologies, innovative methods, and practical strategies for sustainable smart greenhouse horticulture for this Special Issue of Horticulturae. Contributions from various disciplines (such as plant sciences, engineering, environmental sciences, and socioeconomics) are strongly encouraged to foster a comprehensive approach and ensure its successful implementation. 

Scope and Topics

Papers on sustainable approaches in smart greenhouses are welcome, including, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. Energy Management and Efficiency

   - Renewable energy use in greenhouse growing;

   - Developing and optimizing energy-saving climate control and ventilation systems;

   - Development of LED lighting and energy consumption technologies;

   - Methodologies of thermal energy storage, recovery, and management.

2. Water Conservation and Nutrient Management

   - Water use efficiency in precision irrigation: innovations and strategies;

   - Closed-loop hydroponics and aquaponics systems;

   - Rainwater harvesting and recycling, rainwater quality control, etc.;

   - Nutrient solution management and reuse in soilless culture.

3. IoT, Sensor Networks, and Automation

   - Multi-sensor networked deployment for the monitoring of environments in real time;

   - AI-based decision support systems for adaptive crop management;

   - Automated climate, irrigation, and pest control systems for efficiency;

   - Use large-scale data analytics and predictive maintenance to enhance system reliability.

4. Sustainable Growing Media and Substrates

   - Investigations of biodegradable, recyclable, and waste-based substrates;

   - Circular economy concepts in the production and waste of substrates;

   - Comparison reviews of organic vs. synthetic substrate relationships with sustainability.

5. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

   - Use of biocontrol agents under protected cultivation;

   - Application of intelligent monitoring and early-warning systems to detect pests and diseases;

   - Application systems for precision, reducing the number of pesticides applied;

   - Useful microorganisms for improving health conditions and resistance in the plant.

6. Assessment of Life Cycle and Environmental Impact

   - Strategies to minimize greenhouse gas emissions in greenhouse cultivation;

   - Carbon sequestration capacity (CSC) of CEA;

   - Life cycle assessment for the sustainable design and operation of greenhouses;

  - Sustainable packaging, logistics, distribution solutions, and product developments.

7. Crop Optimization and Sustainable Productivity

   - Vertical farming and compact agriculture techniques;

   - Advances in multi-cropping and diversification systems suitable for greenhouses;

   - Precision nutrition and fertilization management;

   - Development and selection of stress-tolerant, resource-use efficient varieties.

8. Technologies for Waste Management and Circular Economy

   - Composting of organic waste, anaerobic digestion, and biogas production from greenhouse waste;

   - Measures to reduce and recycle plastic waste in greenhouse operations;

   - Nutrient extraction and valorisation of agricultural by-products;

   - Designs that move toward zero-waste greenhouses.

Prof. Dr. Gilda Carrasco
Dr. Angelo Signore
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2200 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.

• smart agriculture
• precision horticulture
• energy efficiency
• IoT sensors
• nutrient use efficiency (NUE)
• LED lighting
• artificial intelligence (AI) in horticulture
• sustainable irrigation
• circular economy
• integrated pest management