Integrated environmental control strategy for vertical wheat farming in arid climates: Linking crop physiology and energy systems for sustainable cereal production

Abstract

This study aims to develop an integrated environmental-control framework for vertical wheat farming in arid climates, addressing the challenges of resource scarcity, climate stress, and wheat import dependency in regions such as North Africa. The purpose is to align the crop’s physiological requirements with energy, environmental, and economic constraints in order to evaluate its feasibility within controlled-environment agriculture. The design and methodology draw on recent advances in lighting optimization, CO₂ enrichment, indoor-climate regulation, and hydroponic water recycling, combined with techno-economic analysis of energy demand and system-level integration. Insights from plant physiology and environmental engineering are synthesized into coordinated control strategies that balance grain-yield optimization with reductions in energy and water consumption. The findings confirm that electricity use, particularly for lighting and cooling, is the principal feasibility barrier for cereal-scale vertical farms, typically accounting for 60–70% of operating costs. However, the integration of adaptive lighting schedules, CO₂ recycling, hydroponic recirculation, waste-heat recovery, and on-site solar generation can reduce energy-use intensity to below 250 kWh t^-1 of biomass while achieving ≥90% water savings and improved CO₂-use efficiency. The practical implications include a system-level strategy that links environmental parameters to resource-use efficiency, operating costs, and yield quality, providing a replicable blueprint for future pilot facilities in hot-arid economies. Rather than replacing field agriculture, the framework positions vertical wheat farming as a strategic resilience tool to strengthen food-security planning under climate and market volatility.