Smart Greenhouse Market by Growing demand for food owing to continuously increasing global population

As the global population is increasing at a significant rate, the food production worldwide requires to be doubled from 2014 to 2050 (Source: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)). According to the United Nations, the world population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Therefore, farmers are likely to witness immense pressure for increasing their crop production either by making the land arable to grow crops or adopting emerging techniques such as smart greenhouses and vertical farming. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ~80% of the global population resides in urban areas. The prevailing scarcity of arable land in urban areas has led farmers to adopt new solutions such as smart greenhouses and vertical farming for developing fresh produce.

Restraint: High investment costs owing to deployment of expensive systems in smart greenhouses

Smart greenhouses are highly expensive owing to the deployment of a number of high-cost systems, such as HVAC systems, control systems, LED grow lights, and sensors in them. LED grow lights are an important and expensive component used in smart greenhouses. Each LED grow light unit contains an array of LED, specially designed for greenhouse applications, which increases their overall costs. These units contain different types of LED lights having variations in terms of wattage and wavelengths to provide the required light spectrum for the optimal growth of specific plant species. High-powered LED grow lights are available in the market, with prices ranging from USD 500 to USD 2,000. However, high-quality full-spectrum LED grow lights suitable for indoor farming can cost around USD 2,000 or more, depending on their power output and other features. Thus, the high costs of LED lighting systems are an important aspect delaying the incorporation of LED technology in the lighting of greenhouses.

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Opportunity: Emerging trend of rooftop farming in urban areas

Rooftop gardens have become a prevailing trend across the world. The practice of cultivating food on rooftops of buildings is referred to as rooftop farming. It usually uses green roofs, hydroponics, aeroponics, or air-dynaponics systems or container gardens. Rooftop farming is being adopted in urban areas owing to the scarcity of the arable land. Rooftops of high-rise buildings are used to develop rooftop farms. These farms retain rainwater, decrease the likelihood of pests and human interference in crop cultivation, and reduce air pollution. Thus, the increasing adoption of rooftop farming in urban areas is expected to act as a growth opportunity for the smart greenhouse market.

Challenge: Absence of industry standards for managing farm data

The management of farm data is a major challenge for the growth of the smart greenhouse market. The data obtained from different systems deployed in smart greenhouses is of high importance as it helps in making productive decisions. High volumes of important data pertaining to mapping, variable rate seeding, soil testing, and yield monitoring, as well as historical crop rotation, are generated from smart greenhouses on a regular basis. This data must be stored and managed properly as successful smart farming relies entirely on it for assessing the condition of farms. Data management is key for making smart farm management decisions and improving farm operations. There are no industry standards for managing this agricultural data and enabling uniformity of farm operations. Many agriculturists or farmers are unaware of the effective use of farm data for decision-making. Hence, it is important to provide farmers and agriculturists with proper data management tools and techniques to acquire, manage, process, and use farm data effectively.

Based on end user, the research & educational institutes segment held the largest share of the smart greenhouse market in 2019.

Companies are providing smart greenhouses to research & educational institutes for public or private research. They are providing fully functional smart greenhouse facilities by integrating different plant systems and plant research equipment in their designs for the optimal performance of these research facilities. Research greenhouses can be small or large, depending on the requirements of research activities to be carried out. For instance, Nexus Corporation designs 15,000-square feet state-of-the-art research facilities, as well as 500-square feet smart greenhouses for high school programs. Research & educational institutes are the key end users of smart greenhouses as they carry out research activities related to different flowers, fruits, and vegetables, as well as provide hands-on experience to the concerned in campuses and schools.

The hydroponics segment projected to account for larger size of the smart greenhouse market during the forecast period.

Hydroponics is a production method wherein plants are grown in a nutrient solution rather than in soil. This technique makes use of containers or specially designed benches with troughs to enable the suspension of plants in water. Smart greenhouses based on hydroponics use sand, pebbles, or sawdust as substrates as they have a high water-holding capacity. The roots grow within these substrates to secure plants in troughs or containers. Hydroponics-based smart greenhouses enable soilless agricultural practices to reduce the consumption of resources, thereby enabling this farming technique to be adopted by a large number of stakeholders, ranging from home gardeners to professional growers and supermarkets to restaurants.