Trends, Insights, and Future Prospects for Production in Controlled Environment Agriculture and Agrivoltaics Systems

Investments in alternative food production systems by public and private entities have increased in recent years. Two systems, controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and agrivoltaics (AV), have been highlighted for their potential to provide socioeconomic benefits beyond food production. CEA is the use of enclosed structures—including hydroponic and vertical farming structures—for growing crops, primarily specialty crops. CEA may provide access to local production of nutritious food in communities that lack space for traditional outdoor production, improve access to local foods in urban areas, and serve as a potential tool for adapting to or mitigating climate change. The CEA sector is expanding in large part due to technological advancements. The number of CEA operations more than doubled between 2009 and 2019. Further, more than 60 percent of production for some prominent CEA crops (primarily vegetables) were grown using nontraditional technological systems in 2019. AV is the colocation of agricultural production and solar panels. AV may allow for expanded solar development to address climate change without land use conflicts associated with traditional large-scale solar developments. As of 2021, most AV sites were solar farms planted with pollinator-friendly vegetative cover that, in some cases, were grazed by sheep. Funding for research on a variety of AV systems with specialty crop and/or livestock production continues to increase.

近年来，公共与私营实体对替代食品生产系统的投资逐年增加。可控环境农业（controlled environment agriculture, CEA）与农光互补（agrivoltaics, AV）两大系统因其在食品生产之外所能创造的社会经济效益潜力而备受关注。可控环境农业是指利用封闭设施（包括水培与垂直农业设施）种植作物，主要为特色作物。对于缺乏传统户外生产空间的社区，该系统可助力实现营养食品的本地化生产；在城市地区，它能提升本地食品的可及性；此外，其还是适应或减缓气候变化的潜在工具。可控环境农业领域的扩张很大程度上得益于技术进步——2009至2019年间，该领域的经营主体数量增长超一倍。2019年，部分核心可控环境农业作物（以蔬菜为主）的产量中，超60%采用非传统技术系统种植。农光互补是农业生产与太阳能板的协同布局，可在规避传统大规模太阳能开发相关土地利用冲突的前提下，推动太阳能开发以应对气候变化。截至2021年，多数农光互补项目为太阳能农场，种植了对传粉者友好的植被覆盖层，部分区域还可供绵羊放牧。针对结合特色作物及/或畜牧生产的各类农光互补系统的研究资金投入持续增长。