Controlled Environment Agriculture: Revolutionizing Field Crop Production

Climate change has intensified the challenge of ensuring global food security, prompting innovations beyond traditional open-field farming. Field crops such as wheat, rice, and maize are global staples, but their production is threatened by extreme weather, water scarcity, and land degradation. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) offers a promising solution by creating fully managed systems where light, temperature, humidity, and nutrients are precisely controlled. Unlike conventional farming, CEA not only reduces weather dependence but also enhances resource efficiency and secures reliable crop production even in adverse climates. Although the idea of protected cultivation has ancient roots, modern CEA technologies have expanded its potential far beyond traditional methods. NASA first developed plant-growth chambers, which later advanced into modules such as Veggie and the Advanced Plant Habitat on the International Space Station. These demonstrated successful crop cultivation in extreme environments [1]. CEA can be classified based on technology, structure, growing medium, and production systems. Recent advances in these areas aim to enhance sustainability and reduce environmental impacts. Key innovations include hydroponics, aquaponics, and high-tunnel farming. Automated greenhouses further improve efficiency through sensors and smart controls. Agrivoltaics integrates crop cultivation with solar energy harvesting, enabling dual land use and lowering reliance on non-renewable resources [2]. Singh et al. [3] developed a cost-effective Climate-Smart Hydroponic Chamber (CSHC) at ICAR-IGFRI, Jhansi, to address fodder scarcity in semi-arid regions. The chamber maintained optimal growth conditions (23-28 °C, 87-90% RH) with a cooling efficiency of 78%, ensuring high-quality fodder production throughout the year. Importantly, the structure was economically viable and fabricated with locally available materials. Its cost was only a fraction of conventional systems, making it a scalable solution for smallholder farmers to improve livestock feed security. Despite its promise, CEA faces challenges such as high energy demand, infrastructure costs, and the need for skilled management. However, opportunities lie in technological innovations, renewable energy integration, and the scaling of affordable models like the CSHC. Overall, CEA represents a paradigm shift in agriculture, offering pathways toward resilient, resource-efficient, and climate-smart food production.

Keerthana Edavalath, and Sindhu Pulikkal Vasu. Controlled Environment Agriculture: Revolutionizing Field Crop Production. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology A 16 (2026) 152-159, doi: 10.17265/2161-6256/2026.03.005

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