From Plastic Polytunnel Greenhouses to Plant Factories: How Technology Enables Bountiful Harvests through "Soilless Planting"
An agricultural revolution centered on technology is quietly transforming the foundational landscape of Chinese agriculture. In the next five to ten years, China's facility-based agriculture is poised to enter a golden period of high-quality, coordinated development. From traditional plastic polytunnel greenhouses to fully controllable plant factories, from soil cultivation to soilless planting, technological innovation is turning farmland into veritable "prosperous land."
I. Traditional Transformation: Starting with Plastic Polytunnel Greenhouses
Currently, the area of facility-based agriculture in China exceeds 26.67 million hectares, with plastic polytunnel greenhouses still dominating. These structures covered in white plastic film have become a crucial guarantee for vegetable supply, playing a key role especially in lettuce cultivation during northern winters. However, most plastic polytunnel greenhouses remain at a basic stage of merely "sheltering from wind and rain," featuring weak environmental control capabilities and low land utilization efficiency. As the rural labor force ages, upgrading traditional plastic polytunnel greenhouses is increasingly urgent.
II. Technological Innovation: Soilless Planting Breaks Through Bottlenecks
The maturation of soilless planting technology brings new possibilities to facility-based agriculture. Through methods like nutrient solution cultivation and substrate cultivation, crops are no longer limited by soil conditions. At a lettuce grow farmstand in Shanghai, utilizing the deep flow technique (DFT) for soilless planting, the lettuce growth cycle has been shortened to 25 days, allowing for over 12 harvest cycles per year, while completely avoiding soil-borne diseases. This soilless planting model not only saves more than 60% in water usage but also enables precise fertilization, reducing agricultural non-point source pollution.
III. Model Upgrade: Plant Factories Lead the Future
Plant factories represent the pinnacle of facility-based agriculture. Within these fully controllable environments, factors such as light, temperature, humidity, and CO₂ concentration are all intelligently regulated. A plant factory in Beijing, using abandoned factory buildings for multi-layer lettuce cultivation, achieves a unit area yield 350 times that of traditional farming, with water consumption being only 5% of that used in traditional agriculture. This production method, which uses no pesticides throughout the entire process, perfectly meets contemporary consumers' demand for food safety.
IV. Coordinated Development: Diverse Models Coexist
Facility-based agriculture currently exhibits a trend of diversified development. In northwestern regions, traditional plastic polytunnel greenhouses are gradually being upgraded into environmentally controlled modern facilities. Along the eastern coast, specialized lettuce grow farmstands employ soilless planting technologies to achieve year-round production. Around major cities, plant factories are springing up like mushrooms. Different technological pathways adapt to different regional conditions, collectively driving industrial upgrading.
V. Overcoming Challenges: Advancing Towards Smart Agriculture
Despite significant achievements, the path of development still faces challenges. In the realm of plastic polytunnel greenhouses, there is an urgent need to address issues like poor thermal insulation and short service life. Soilless planting needs to overcome technical cost barriers, while plant factories must reduce energy consumption costs. Simultaneously, the shortage of professionals, particularly interdisciplinary talents proficient in both agricultural techniques and smart equipment operation, has become a constraining factor.
VI. Co-creating the Future: Building a New Industrial Ecosystem
At the governmental level, increased policy support is needed, such as providing subsidies for constructing high-standard plastic polytunnel greenhouses. Research institutions should focus on tackling key technologies like nutrient solution formulations for soilless planting. Enterprises can explore the deep integration of plant factories with lettuce grow farmstands and develop high-value-added products. Internet companies like JD.com and Alibaba have already begun deploying smart agriculture, applying IoT and big data technologies to plant factory management.
In this agricultural transformation, a new generation of professional farmers is emerging. In Shandong, young farmers born in the 1990s are renovating traditional plastic polytunnel greenhouses, introducing soilless planting systems, specializing in high-quality lettuce cultivation, and achieving annual sales exceeding ten million RMB. Their success proves that agriculture is becoming a promising industry.
From traditional plastic polytunnel greenhouses to advanced plant factories, from soil cultivation to soilless planting, the path for the transformation and upgrading of China's facility-based agriculture is becoming increasingly clear. In the future, with technological progress and model innovation, we will see more unmanned plant factories and intelligent lettuce grow farmstands spread across urban and rural areas. The proliferation of soilless planting technology will enable agricultural production to break through spatial constraints. This transformation not only secures our "vegetable basket" but is also redefining agricultural production methods, breathing new vitality into the ancient land.
