The increase in environmental stress greatly affects crop production in this era of climate change. Excessive exploitation of natural resources is also contributing towards degradation of crop environment that ultimately gets reflected through low production and productivity of crops. Some areas of our country having arid and semi-arid climate is also not suitable for growing certain crops of high-demand in open-field where installation of protected structures can effectively grow crops that could generate revenue and provide employment to un-educated youths. Protected cultivation requires various sensors, automation devices which can efficiently work as per the requirement of the crop and improve the productivity. It overcomes many biotic and abiotic factors such as photo-stress, water stress, heat stress, weed growth, soil nutrient deficiencies, high wind velocities and atmospheric carbon dioxide, pest and diseases. Protected cultivation is a scientifically sound technique for growing vegetables, flowers and other high value as well as consumable crops. Various centrally funded schemes are also present that can enable farmers to adopt protected cultivation to boost their economy. This writeup encompasses the present scenario of protected cultivation in India along with certain benefits, constraints and achievements.
Automation devices, Heat stress, Pest and Disease, Photo-stress, Protected cultivation
Devi, M. B., Verma, V. K., Talang, H. D., Rymbai, H., Raviteja, P., & Singh, M. B. (2025). Protected cultivation of high value vegetable crops for sustainable production in North Eastern Hill Region. Indian Farming, 75(8), 6–9.
Gorantiwar, S.D., Kumar, P., Pachpute, J.S., Kulkarni, S.S. & Dalavi, P.N. (2022). Protected Cultivation Technologies for Climate Smart Agriculture, Satish Serial Publishing House. New Delhi. ISBN: 9789390425143.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research. (2023). Vertical expansion of nursery under protected conditions using soilless rooting medium. In ICAR annual report 2022–23 (p. 24). Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
Indore, N., Kale, S., Bashir, A., Singh, H. & singh, R. (2019). Structural analysis most common design of polyhouses in India, Conference: 8th Asian-Australasian Conference on Precision Agriculture at: Ludhiana, October 14-17. 2019.
Jain, S., Jain, S., Singh, L., Raghavan, M., Vimal, V. K., Mashetty, S., Kumar, R., & Pradhan, V. (2025). Impact of protected cultivation on growth, yield and quality of fruits, vegetables and flowers. International Journal of Environmental Sciences, 11(6), 2635–2644.
Jaber, Z. (2024). IoT Powered Green House. Hackster.io. https://www.hackster.io/ZaidJaber/iot-powerd-green-house-0dc49b
Jewett, T., & Jarvis, W. (2001). Management of the greenhouse microclimate in relation to disease control: A review. Agronomie, 21(4), 351–366.
Kaur, J., & Singh, R. (2021). Protected cultivation for climate-resilient horticulture. Indian Horticulture Journal, 11(1), 45–50.
Keerthika, B., Ramakrishnan, K., Mahendra Kumar, K., Jaya Bala Krishnan, R. M., & Prabhakaran, K. (2026). Farmer producer organizations in India: A systematic review and bibliometric analysis of constraints, social linkages, and sustainability. Genetics and Molecular Research, 25(14s), 1–10.
Keshwania, N., Vishal, N., & Nanglia, S. (2021). Protected cultivation. Just Agriculture, 1(8), 1–5.
Krishna, H., Chaurasia, S. N. S., Bahadur, A., Singh, S. K., Sharma, S., Kumar, R., Roy, S., & Singh, M. K. (2023). Protected cultivation of vegetables crops for sustainable food production. Indian Horticulture, March–April, 39–44.
Kumar, M., & Meena, M. L. (2020). Challenges and future prospects of protected horticulture in India. Journal of AgriSearch, 7(2), 75–80.
Li, Y., Ding, Y., Li, D., & Miao, Z. (2018). Automatic carbon dioxide enrichment strategies in the greenhouse: A review. Biosystems Engineering, 171, 101‑119. 10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2018.04.018.
Manjunatha, M. K., Babu, B. M., Ramesh, G., & Reddy, G. V. (2022). Impact of different colour low tunnel shade nets and mulches on water use efficiency and nutrient use efficiency in Chrysanthemum. International Journal of Environment and Climate Change, 12(11), 2148–2158.
Maitra, S., Mitra, B., Sarkar, R., Chatterjee, R., Khalko, S., Chaturvedi, O.P. (2020). Small scale protected cultivation for off-season vegetables: A promising option for Terai farmers towards income generation. Int. J. Curr Microbiol App Sci., 9(4), 972–80. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.904.116
Martínez-Blanco, J., Muñoz, P., Antón, A., & Rieradevall, J. (2011). Assessment of tomato Mediterranean production in open-field and standard multi-tunnel greenhouse, with compost or mineral fertilizers, from an agricultural and environmental standpoint. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19, 985–997.
Mbambalala, L., Mkhungo, S., & Magawana, M. (2026). Smallholder farmer awareness, knowledge, and adoption of cover crops in agroecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A narrative review. Discover Agriculture, 4, 272.
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. (2018, August 7). Poly houses. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1541919®=48&lang=2
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture Operational Guidelines, (2024). Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. https://nhb.gov.in.
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. (2026, July 28). Support to farmers under MIDH. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2290632®=3&lang=1
Nair, R., & Barche, S. (2014). Protected cultivation of vegetables—Present status and future prospects in India. Indian Journal of Applied Research, 4(6), 245–247.
National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), (2026). Core elements used in protected cultivation: Structural and climate control components. Vocational Education Division.
Nguyen, K. (2025). IoT Smart Greenhouse Monitoring and Automatic Control System. Arduino Project Hub, https://projecthub.arduino.cc/khoanguyen345/iot-smart-greenhouse-monitoring-and-automatic-control-system-721735.
Panwar, N.L., Kothari, S., Rathore, N.S. (2009). Protected cultivation of medicinal plant in composite climate of Indian State Rajasthan. American-Eurasian J Agric Environ Sci., 5(5):633-637.
Prakash, P., Kumar, P., Kar, A., Singh, A. K., & Anbukkani, P. (2020). Status and impact of protected cultivation of horticultural crops in Maharashtra. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 77(3), 518–526.
Rana, R. K., Bist, V., & Babu, A. (2018). Shade net technology for nursery raising and vegetable cultivation. Vegetable Science, 45(3), 239–243.
Rasheed, R., Ashraf, M. A., Iqbal, M., Hussain, I., Akbar, A., Farooq, U., & Shad, M. I. (2020). Major constraints for global rice production: Changing climate, abiotic and biotic stresses. In Rice research for quality improvement: Genomics and genetic engineering: Breeding techniques and abiotic stress tolerance (Vol. 1, pp. 15–45).
Sanwal, S. K., Patel, K. K., & Yadav, D. S. (2004). Vegetable production under protected conditions in Leh region: Problems and prospects. ENVIS Bulletin: Himalayan Ecology, 12, 1–4.
Sarath Chandran, M. C., Chandran, R., Rao, P. S., & Achuthan, K. (2026). Cash crops vs. food security? Examining the role of cocoa-cashew intercropping in smallholder farming systems. Agriculture & Food Security, 15, 32.
Saravaiya, S. N., Patel, N. B., & Kumar, S. (2014). Protected cultivation: Future technology for vegetable crops. Shodh Chintan, 6, 261–278.
Selvakumar, R., Malik, G., Singh, D.B., Mir, J.I., Nabi, S.U., Gangadhara, K. 2019. Protected cultivation of temperate vegetables for doubling farmer’s income. Indian Farmer, 6(5):302–09.
Sharma, S., Rawat, S., & Verma, S. K. (2019). Insect-proof net houses for virus management in vegetable crops. Indian Journal of Entomology, 81(2), 230–235.
Sheeba, S. M., Devi, M. N., Premavathi, R., Shanmugasundaram, K. A., Dheebakaran, G., & Vanitha, G. (2025). Opportunities and challenges in the adoption of protected technologies in horticultural crops. Plant Science Today, 12(2), 1–12.
Shukla, R. M., Nazir, N. B., Pandey, Y., & Dadhich, S. M. (2024). Influence of protected cultivation structures on vegetable crops. Journal of Agriculture and Ecology Research International, 25(1), 116–122.
Thakur, N., Sharma, R., Giridhar, B. J., Kumar, S., Shilpa, Sharma, A., & Klate, A. (2023). Socio-economic impact assessment of protected cultivation: Income, employment and livelihood advancements for farmers. Journal of Agricultural Development and Policy, 33(2), 138–145.
Trivedi, A. (2019). Reckoning of impact of climate change using RRL AWBM toolkit. Trends in Biosciences, 12(20), 1336–1337.
Ummyiah, H.M., Wani, K.P., Khan, S.H., Magray, M.M. (2017). Protected cultivation of vegetable crops under temperate conditions. J. Pharmacogn. Phytochem., 6(5):1629-1634.
Van Lenteren, J. C. (2000). A greenhouse without pesticides: Fact or fantasy? Crop Protection, 19, 375–384.
Villagran, E., Espitia, J. J., Amado, G., Rodriguez, J., Gomez, L., Velasquez, J. F., Gil, R., Baeza, E., Aguilar, C. E., Akrami, M., & Arias, L. A. (2025). CO2 Enrichment in Protected Agriculture: A Systematic Review of Greenhouses, Controlled Environment Systems, and Vertical Farms—Part 2. Sustainability, 17(7), 2809. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17072809
Yang, N. W., Zang, F., Wan, F. H., Xu, H. X., Guo, J. Y., Zang, L. S., & Wang, S. (2014). Biological pest management by predators and parasitoids in greenhouse vegetables in China. Biological Control, 68, 92–102.
Zbotic. (2026). Smart Net House: Climate Control for Protected Cultivation, Zbotic Engineering. https://zbotic.in/smart-net-house-climate-control-for-protected-cultivation
