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Smart Agriculture ›› 2026, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (3): 99-118.doi: 10.12133/j.smartag.SA202604003

• 专刊--数字技术赋能与农业经济范式转型 • 上一篇    下一篇

植物工厂经济脆弱性诊断方法与转型路径

谢俊华, 王森, 杨其长()   

  1. 中国农业科学院都市农业研究所,四川 成都 610299,中国
  • 收稿日期:2026-04-01 出版日期:2026-05-30
  • 基金项目:
    新疆维吾尔自治区重点研发计划(2023B02014-1); 国家重点研发计划项目(2023YFF1001500); 四川省科技计划重点研发项目(2023YFN0003); 中国农业科学院重大科技任务(CAAS-ZDRW202415)
  • 作者简介:

    谢俊华,硕士,研究方向为植物工厂。E-mail:

  • 通信作者:
    杨其长,博士,研究员,研究方向为植物工厂资源节约技术。E-mail:

Economic Vulnerability Assessment Method and Transition Pathways for Plant Factories

XIE Junhua, WANG Sen, YANG Qichang()   

  1. Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610299, China
  • Received:2026-04-01 Online:2026-05-30
  • Foundation items:Key Research and Development Program of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(2023B02014-1); National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFF1001500); Key Research and Development Program of Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Plan(2023YFN0003); The Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program(CAAS-ZDRW202415)
  • About author:

    XIE Junhua, E-mail:

  • Corresponding author:
    YANG Qichang, E-mail:

摘要:

【目的/意义】 植物工厂具有全年连续生产、环境高度可控和产品一致性高等优势,但其经济可行性长期受到高资本投入、高电力依赖,以及市场价值实现不足的共同约束。 【方法】 针对现有研究中作物生产、自动化控制、能源条件和市场实现分散处理的问题,本研究以公开数据较充分、参数易获取的植物工厂生菜原型为研究对象,构建作物、控制、能源及市场耦合的经济脆弱性诊断框架,并在国内情景下设置3类控制成熟度、3类能源条件和3类市场条件,共形成27个确定性情景。模型通过控制成熟度将商品产量、单位商品电耗和劳动替代系数映射到利润函数,并在此基础上构建由盈利缺口、能源暴露度和碳约束暴露度组成的经济脆弱性指数。 【结果和讨论】 第一,27个情景中仅有5个情景实现了正利润,占比为18.5%;第二,在常规电网型与高值直供市场的基准比较情景下,控制成熟度由基础控制提升至闭环智能后,利润由-258.36增至518.04元/(m2·年),跨越盈亏平衡点,改善幅度是原亏损额的3倍左右;第三,盈利边界与脆弱性排序并不完全一致,部分情景虽有相近利润表现,但由于能源暴露度和碳约束暴露度差异,经济脆弱性指数出现了显著分化。 【结论】 植物工厂生菜的可行性本质上是一个窄窗口问题,单一降本措施难以跨越盈亏线,较为稳健的转型路径应建立在控制升级、较优电力条件和价值链升级的协同基础上。

关键词: 植物工厂, 生菜, 经济脆弱性, 转型路径

Abstract:

[Objective] Plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) provide year-round production, controllable environments, consistent product quality, and high space-use efficiency, positioning them as an important form of controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) moving toward intensification and digitalization. However, their commercialization has been constrained by high capital investment, electricity dependence, labor and operation-and-maintenance costs, and insufficient realization of market value. Existing studies have typically examined crop yield, light-environment control, energy use, capital cost, or market price in isolation, with limited integration of crop production, control maturity, energy conditions, and market realization into a computable framework. The aim is to identify the profitability boundary of PFAL lettuce, clarify how control maturity affects marketable yield, unit electricity use, labor substitution, annualized capital cost, and unit cost, and identify feasible transition pathways. [Methods] A production-side accounting boundary was adopted. Annualized capital cost, maintenance cost, electricity cost, labor cost, nutrient solution and seed costs, and other operating costs were included, whereas cold-chain logistics, retail terminal costs, brand advertising costs, financing costs, and complete channel-organization costs were excluded. Three levels of control maturity, three energy scenarios, and three market scenarios were specified, resulting in 27 deterministic scenarios. The model was constructed following the logic of "scenario input – control mapping – cost – benefit calculation – profitability boundary identification – vulnerability diagnosis". Control maturity was incorporated into the profit function through gross yield, marketable rate, unit electricity consumption per unit of marketable product, labor-substitution coefficient, and unit capital expenditure (CAPEX). An economic vulnerability index (EVI), consisting of profit gap, energy exposure, and carbon-constraint exposure, was further constructed. Local elasticity analysis, weight-robustness tests, and extended scenarios involving policy support and channel costs were used to examine the explanatory boundary of the results. [Results and Discussions] The economic feasibility of PFAL lettuce exhibited a distinct "narrow-window" characteristic. Among the 27 deterministic scenarios, only 5 achieved positive profit, accounting for 18.5%, and all were concentrated in the high-value direct-supply market. Under the benchmark scenario of "conventional grid electricity + high-value direct-supply market", upgrading control maturity from basic control to closed-loop intelligent control increased marketable yield from 70.40 to 109.25 kg/(m2·year), reduced unit electricity consumption from 12.0 to 8.4 kWh/kg, decreased unit cost from 27.67 to 19.26 CNY/kg, and increased profit from -258.36 to 518.04 CNY/(m2·year). Cost decomposition showed that although control upgrading increased annualized capital cost per unit area, higher output diluted capital cost per unit product. Meanwhile, improved labor substitution and reduced unit electricity consumption lowered labor cost and electricity cost, respectively. Break-even analysis indicated that higher control maturity flattened the break-even boundary between selling price and electricity price, reflecting lower sensitivity to electricity price fluctuations. The EVI results further showed that profitability ranking and vulnerability ranking were not fully consistent. The best scenario was "closed-loop intelligent control + energy-abundant condition + high-value direct-supply market", with an EVI of 0.088, whereas the worst scenario was "basic control + high-price and high-carbon electricity condition + conventional fresh-food market", with an EVI of 0.727. Local elasticity analysis showed that marketable yield had the largest effect on unit cost, with an elasticity of approximately -0.57, followed by unit CAPEX at approximately 0.49. The elasticities of electricity price and unit electricity consumption were both approximately 0.33. Sensitivity analysis of policy support and channel costs showed that investment subsidies and preferential electricity prices improved the financial performance of some boundary scenarios, whereas additional costs associated with packaging, fulfillment, channel maintenance, and sales organization compressed profit margins in high-value markets. [Conclusions] The feasibility of PFAL lettuce production is not determined by single-factor cost reduction, but by the joint effects of control maturity, energy conditions, market value realization, and channel costs. Conventional fresh-food markets and general premium-brand markets are unlikely to support profitable PFAL lettuce production. Only in high-value direct-supply markets, and when the control level reaches at least the enhanced-control stage, can the system cross the break-even line. The value of control upgrading should not be understood merely as electricity saving, but as a comprehensive mechanism that simultaneously increases marketable yield, improves the marketable rate, reduces unit electricity consumption, enhances labor substitution, and dilutes capital cost. A more robust transition pathway should therefore be built on the synergy among control upgrading, favorable electricity conditions, value-chain upgrading, and policy support. The conclusions of this study are applicable to production-side boundary identification under publicly available data conditions, but should not be directly interpreted as evidence of stable profitability for specific commercial projects.

Key words: plant factories with artificial lighting, lettuce, economic vulnerability, transformation path

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