UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA CAWANGAN MELAKA KAMPUS JASIN

FPA 405 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE

FPA 405 ASSIGNMENT: REVIEW PAPER ON ANY TOPIC RELATED TO AGRICULTURE

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

TITLE: THE APPLICATION OF SMART GREENHOUSE IN AGRICULTURE

LECTURER’S NAME: TS. DR SITI FAIRUZ NURR SADIKKAN

STUDENT’S NAME: ROZIANA PING HEMANG

STUDENT’S ID: 2022819078

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Table of Contents
Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2-3
Materials and methods........................................................................................................... 4-6
Result and discussion.............................................................................................................. 6-8
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 8-9
References............................................................................................................................ 9-10
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Abstract

A greenhouse is a structure in which plants are grown, and the material of the structure is usually
transparent in order for the plants to be exposed to more sunlight. The temperature inside the building
significantly warmer than the outside of the building, in order to protect the plants from extreme conditions.
Meanwhile, modern smart greenhouses are set up with multiple wireless sensors where the farmers can collect
data about the temperature, humidity, lighting intensity, and carbon dioxide. Then, this data will be exported to
a computer and used to enhance the crop-growing strategies. The market for smart greenhouses is expected to
grow significantly due to the increasing population, climate change, and urbanisation, smart farming is expected
to develop at a fast rate. The crop yield of plants in smart greenhouses is higher and they have better quality
products since the data is collected accurately compared to traditional greenhouses where the data is collected
inconsistently, which affects the accuracy of the data needed. This is proved when many farm producers and test
farms give feedback where they see the actual greenhouse as something entirely new and interesting. (Yamaya
et al, 2020).

Introduction

Smart greenhouses are a revolution in agriculture that use technology that the farmer can monitor and control to
optimise the growing process. Before we go further about smart greenhouses, let’s take a look back at the history
of greenhouses themselves to see how they evolved into smart greenhouses like todays. Growing plants in a
controlled environment was a concept that existed in Roman times.

Figure 1 shows the historical timeline of greenhouses from AD 14–17 until now. During the Roman era,

the Roman Emperor Tiberius (AD 14-17) ate cucumber all the time, which required Roman gardeners to develop
methods similar to a greenhouse system to allow the plants to grow year round. The first mention of artificially
heated greenhouses comes from a farming journal published during Korea's Joseon dynasty. In 1681, the first
stove heated greenhouse was created at Chelsea Physic Garden in UK. Meanwhile, in the 1700s, the greenhouse
system arrived in America, where Andrew Faneuil built the first American greenhouse in 1737 to serve pineapple
to his guests. In 1789, the experimentation with greenhouse design continued as technology with better glass
and construction techniques developed. The example of greenhouse during that time located at the Palace of
Versailles. During 1800s, the first practical greenhouse is built in Leiden, Holland to grow tropical, medicinal
plants. Then, this greenhouses system continued evolve to modern smart greenhouse like nowadays as the
technology also continue to develop to more advance.
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Figure 1: Historical timeline of greenhouse

In the future, technology will continue to advance how we grow food and other plants in greenhouses.
With today's technology, a single computer can control multiple pieces of equipment installed within the
greenhouse, reducing the need for wiring and allowing for the use of a wireless network. Smart greenhouses
have resulted in increased production in many ways, not only for farmers but also for those in need. Despite the
fact that greenhouses provide many benefits to farmers, there are also challenges that must be addressed in order
to achieve the primary goal of why smart greenhouses are built, which is to produce more plants of higher quality.
The future of maintaining a climate-controlled greenhouse to supply a hungry world is advanced artificial
intelligence and machine learning (Joy King, 2020). In the following topic, we will discuss how a smart
greenhouse works to achieve its main goal, the challenges to consider in order to meet the target, and how it
benefits farmers.
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Materials and methods

As we all know, the goal of building a smart greenhouse is to achieve a higher yield while maintaining
high quality and efficiency of production. To achieve this goal, we must first understand how smart greenhouses
work and the challenges they present. When constructing a smart greenhouse, one should consider learning about
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) so that they can manage their greenhouse when some
device is already installed in their greenhouse structure. One of the key factors in the development of smart
greenhouses is artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). A smart greenhouse should generally
also include components such as a control system, HVAC system, irrigation system, growing light, and others.
Smart greenhouses are widely used in the cultivation of vegetables, flowers and ornamentals, fruit plants, and
nursery crops with these systems. Besides, they should understand the factor that determine the plants growth
and productivity which is the temperature, water, light, humidity and etc. All of these should be taken into their
consideration before they start to build their smart greenhouse. Next, Figure 1.2 which shown the example
devices that installed in smart greenhouse.

Figure 1.2: Example of device that installed in Smart Greenhouse

Based on the smart greenhouse that shown in Figure 1.2, there are several devices that installed such as edge
computer, ventilation fan, wireless sensor, air conditioning, irrigation device and irrigation tube. All of this
devices have its own function which shown in table below.
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Devices Function

Edge computer Collected all data from wireless sensor and transmitted into cloud/internet

Ventilation fan Ventilation fan may deliver positive airflow throughout the greenhouse. A little
vacuum is formed as the warm air is expelled by the fans, allowing cooler outside
air to enter through louvres, open doors, and crevices.
Wireless sensor Sense the state of the greenhouse environment at the time being and the data
transfer to edge computer

Air conditioning To control the temperature within the greenhouses

Irrigation device To deliver proper amounts of water and nutrients into the root zone and reduce
waste and evaporation

Irrigation tube Releases water through a system of emitters, emitters, pipes, and tubing.

Table 1.3: Function of devices that installed in smart greenhouse

Figure below shown the application of smart greenhouse in real life. As we can see the circle shapes in the figure
shown below represent the sensor, square shapes as the actuator which a component that is responsible for
monitor a system/mechanism, and next is rectangular shape as the router which is a device that forward data
between the computer networks.

Figure 1.4: The real life application of IoT in smart greenhouse

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Next part is the flow of how data transfer from wireless sensor into devices to stable climate parameters.
For example, when the sensor nodes sense the imbalance then the data will transfer to the intelligent control
system (edge computer), then this data will transmitted to the internet/cloud to store the data and translate the
data, after the data translated, the devices will respond and turn on to stabilise the climate parameter. Figure 1.5
shown a demonstration of how data transfer and make the decision making to command the devices, so that the
climate parameter can be stabilise.

Greenhouse with Intelligent control

Sensor Control Devices to stable
sensor nodes system (edge
data command climate
computer)
parameters

Data
transmitted

Internet/cloud

Figure 1.5: Demonstration of how the data transfer and make the decision making to
command the devices

Result and discussion

The concept of a smart greenhouse is based on the vision of a greenhouse that would maintain a perfect
micro-climate for a specific crop being grown inside. To perform effectively, it would be perfectly tailored to
the vegetation inside. Because of the advanced irrigation system, smart greenhouses are also the best choice for
saving water in some areas. People also have gained access to electricity in recent years thanks to solar-
photovoltaic technology.

Smart greenhouses have provided numerous benefits to farmers, including the ability to forecast future
market demand and develop appropriate production plans. This avoids overproduction and subsequent price
drops, fire sales, and crop abandonment. In addition, the system can accurately predict labour supply
requirements and assist greenhouse managers in strengthening human resource allocation, thus reducing human
resource management issues. For example, the system allows managers to accurately plan their human resource
needs, allowing them to customise their workforce to the seasons and avoid either a surplus or a shortage. This
also provides workers with assurance by guaranteeing work after being hired for a job. Smart greenhouses has
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improve the irrigation and fertilization system where farmers able to keep track of their crop conditions. For
instance, the soil volumetric reading will indicate whether or not the crops are under water stress. Accordingly,
measurements of soil salinity deliver useful information about fertilisation requirements. The sprinkler and
spraying system will then be turned on automatically to address real-time crop demands while minimising
manual intervention.

The figure below portrays the irrigation system, which also functions as a sprinkler and spraying system when
enabled.

Figure 2: Irrigation system in smart greenhouse

Furthermore, smart greenhouses can assist farmers in controlling infection and avoiding disease
outbreaks. Although agrochemical treatments are readily available, most farmers are unaware of when and how
to use them. Data on the greenhouse environment will then be used to predict insights into existing pest and fungi
risks using just a machine learning platform. Farmers can use this information to apply treatments exactly when
they are needed to ensure a healthy crop at the lowest possible chemical cost. Aside from that, smart greenhouses
prevent theft and improve greenhouse building security. Greenhouses with high-value crops are frequently
targeted by thieves. In this context, IoT sensors provide an infrastructure for monitoring door status and detecting
suspicious activity. They are linked to an automated alarm system and instantly notify growers when a security
issue arises.

Following that, the global market for smart greenhouses is expected to grow in alongside with
agricultural demand. This is due to rising population, climate change, urbanisation, and other factors. During the
forecast period, between 2023 and 2028, the Global Smart Greenhouse market is expected to grow at a rapid
pace. The market is steadily growing in 2021, and with key players increasingly developing strategies, the market
is expected to rise. According to Market Watch article publish on January 13, 2023, due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the global Smart Greenhouse market is expected to be worth USD 991.1 million in 2022 and USD
1169.7 million by 2028, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2.8% during the review period.
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According to Market Watch article publish on January 13, 2023, they have analysed which country have
dominating the smart greenhouse market following each region respectively. Table below show the country that
have dominating the smart greenhouses market.

Region Country
North America I. United states
II. Canada
III. Mexico
Europe I. Germany
II. UK
III. France
IV. Italy
V. Russia
VI. Turkey
Asia-Pacific I. China
II. Japan
III. Korea
IV. India
V. Australia
VI. Indonesia
VII. Thailand
VIII. Philippines
IX. Malaysia
X. Vietnam
South America I. Brazil
II. Argentina
III. Columbia
Middle East and Africa I. Saudi Arabia
II. UAE
III. Egypt
IV. Nigeria
V. South Africa

Table 2.1: Region and country that have dominating the smart greenhouse market

Conclusion

The Internet of Things (IoT) is more prevalent in agriculture than ever before, and smart greenhouses
are a prime example .A greenhouse provides a controlled environment that is tailored to the needs of the
vegetation produced inside. Microclimate and agronomic parameters have traditionally been recorded in a rather
manual and inconsistent manner. This methods have resulted in less accurate data, affecting the crop yields
negatively. With advanced technology, the Internet of Thing (IoT) has apply into the greenhouse system where
all the data analysed consistently without manual intervention with just wireless devices connected within the
greenhouses building. This save more energy compared to the traditionally greenhouse and also enhance the crop
yields with better quality than before. This also help a better planning with market sales in smart greenhouse
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market. Yuan Lee, Product Sales Manager at Advantech Europe state that the intelligent system enables more
precise planning and faster response times at every stage of the industry supply chain. (Advantech, 2021). Food
production, environmental, and social sustainability targets can all be met by utilising smart agriculture
applications extensively, which is a win-win situation for everyone.

References

1. Edge Computing | Accenture. (n.d.). https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/cloud/edge-

computing-index

2. King, J. (n.d.). The History of Greenhouses. https://blog.growlink.com/the-history-of-greenhouses

3. Smart greenhouse. (n.d.). Designing Buildings.

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Smart_greenhouse

4. Smart Greenhouse Market. (n.d.). MarketsandMarkets.

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/smart-greenhouse-market-63166169.html

5. Smart Greenhouse Market Size, Sales, CAGR And Competition Data from 2023 To 2028 with Top

Countries Data. (2023, January 13). MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/press-

release/smart-greenhouse-market-size-sales-cagr-and-competition-data-from-2023-to-2028-

with-top-countries-data-2023-01-13

6. Smart Greenhouse｜VISION03｜Technology｜About ｜. (n.d.). YANMAR.

https://www.yanmar.com/eu/about/technology/vision3/smart_greenhouse/

7. Solanki, A. (2022, July 4). How smart greenhouse solution can enhance greenhouse farming.

Softwebsolutions. https://www.softwebsolutions.com/resources/smart-greenhouse-monitoring-

solution.html
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8. Team, Z. (2022, November 18). Greenhouse Business: Start-Up Costs, Profits, and Labor.
ZipGrow Inc. https://zipgrow.com/greenhouse-business-start-up-costs-profits-and-labor/

9. Wendt, Z. (2022, October 13). Smart Agriculture Gets a Boost from Big Data and AI. Arrow.com.

https://www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/smart-agriculture-gets-a-boost-from-

big-data-and-ai