Reviewing the use of AI in CEA

Grownetics

21 May 2026 — 1 min read

Reviewing the use of AI in CEA Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) refers to the practice of growing crops within regulated, enclosed systems where factors such as light, temperature, humidity, and nutrients can be precisely controlled. These systems generate vast amounts of operational and biological data as sensors continuously monitor plant and environmental conditions.

Artificial intelligence (AI), a field focused on creating systems that learn from data and make informed decisions, can then be used to process this huge data set, including environmental adjustments to forecasting crop growth and yield, ultimately improving productivity while reducing waste. AI monitors agricultural parameters such as crop genetics, health and disease, livestock, soil moisture, soil quality and moisture, climate, autonomous machinery, resource efficiency, weed control, genetics, harvest timing and market forecasting to enable real-time monitoring of factors like weather, temperature, water usage, and soil conditions, thus enabling farmers to minimize losses and boost yields.

Individual farmers are likely to operate with more than 75 million interconnected devices, with an average farm producing 4.1 million data points on average per day by 2050. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 151(4), 306–314.

Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?

Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.

What is the operator takeaway from this trial?

If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.

"Your biggest long-term cost driver is decided before construction begins"

Source: VFD.com Harvest Panel Systems, which manufactures and installs insulated metal panels for controlled environment facilities, used its presentation at the CEA and Indoor Farming conference to argue that the materials chosen at the design phase determine a facility's energy costs more than any subsequent operational decision.

CEA Alliance pushes for greenhouse exemption in US-Mexico tomato tariff review

Source: VFD.com Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance Executive Director Tom Stenzel says greenhouse-grown tomatoes should not be in the same category as field-grown. "The market impact on field-grown tomatoes that I have seen, I call the greenhouse revolution, not imports of competitive field-grown product," he says. greenhouse-grown tomatoes

Redefining the future of greenhouse produce

Source: HD.com 10–11, 2026, in Charlotte-Concord, N.C., CEAg World is not a traditional trade show. It is a curated, grower-first gathering designed to prioritize meaningful connections, practical learning, and real business outcomes over scale. "This event is about delivering practical, proven solutions, from climate and inputs

Mexico: Dutch companies to invest over $200 million in automated greenhouse project

Source: VFD.com Mexico: Dutch companies to invest over $200 million in automated greenhouse project Thanks! The companies, along with Dutch company Van der Hoeven, will invest $70 million in the first ‌phase ⁠of the project. The project will begin with an initial phase of US$70 million and aims