Industries
CEA & horticulture
What changes this industry: bio-solutions with evidence, technologies, suppliers and open money.
Overview of the industry
Greenhouse, nursery and container horticulture built on extracted peat and chemical soil fumigation — peat-based substrates and methyl bromide’s chemical successors (metam, 1,3-D, chloropicrin) — and the by-product substrates, grafting, biological soil disinfestation and soilless systems that replace them. Covers the index topic cea-vertical-farming.
Soil fumigants are regulated as plant protection products (EU 1107/2009); methyl bromide under the Montreal Protocol. Growing media may fall under fertilizer rules (EU FPR 2019/1009, PFC 4). The articles are overviews, not cultivation manuals.
Articles#
| ID | Problem → alternative | Replaces | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| CE01 | Growing media → coir, wood fibre, composted bark, green compost, sphagnum farming | Extracted peat | Replace / Partial |
| CE02 | Soilborne disease → grafting, ASD, biofumigation, soilless culture | Methyl bromide, metam, 1,3-D, chloropicrin | Replace / Partial |
| CE03 | Greenhouse pests → augmentative biological control (Almería pepper 99.6 %, NL >90 %) | Insecticide and acaricide spray programmes | Replace |
| CE04 | Tomato fruit set → bumblebee pollination (~40 % of Japanese greenhouse tomatoes) | Auxin hormone sprays, manual vibration | Replace |
Related articles elsewhere#
- Compost as substrate: NU03
Reviewed but SKIPPED (no proven bio-alternative)#
| Substance / use | Hazard | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Rock wool slabs | Energy-intensive, landfill waste | Coir slabs are the main bio-based alternative (CE01); recycled rock wool is mineral, not bioeconomy |
| LED and energy use in vertical farms | Fossil energy | An energy question, not a chemical substitution |
| Plastic greenhouse films | Plastic waste | Bio-based films are not yet durable enough for multi-season greenhouse covers; mulch films are in PK03 |
What it replaces 4
| D3 | Augmentative biological control in greenhouse vegetables instead of insecticide and acaricide programmes Replaces: Calendar sprays of insecticides and acaricides (organophosphates, neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, abamectin) against whitefly, thrips, aphids, spider … | 7 | MACRO |
| D3 | Peat-free and peat-reduced growing media (coir, wood fibre, composted bark, green-waste compost, sphagnum farming) instead of extracted peat Replaces: Peat (sphagnum moss peat) as the main constituent of potting soils and professional horticultural substrates | 15 | AGROCHEM |
| D2 | Bumblebee pollination instead of hormone sprays and manual vibration in greenhouse tomatoes Replaces: Fruit-setting hormone sprays (synthetic auxins such as 4-CPA / tomatotone) and labour-intensive manual flower vibration in greenhouse tomatoes | 6 | MACRO |
| D2 | Grafting onto resistant rootstocks, biological/anaerobic soil disinfestation and biofumigation, and soilless (substrate and hydroponic) culture instead of methyl bromide and chemical soil fumigants Replaces: Methyl bromide (phased out under the Montreal Protocol, remaining critical/quarantine uses); chemical fumigants used in its place — metam … | 10 | SERV |
Screened candidates 2
| CE03 | augmentative biological control in greenhouse vegetables instead of insecticide and acaricide programmes write — round 2, 2026-10-06 | D3 |
| CE04 | bumblebee pollination instead of hormone sprays (auxins) for fruit set in greenhouse tomatoes write — round 2, 2026-10-06 | D2 |
Technologies 11
| Bio-indoor gardening kits Consumer countertop and freestanding appliances that grow herbs, leafy greens and vegetables at home using proprietary soil pods or hydroponic reservoirs, … | Agri-tech & precision |
| Biofertilizers & biopesticides Living inputs for crop protection and nutrition — Bacillus thuringiensis biopesticides, predatory mites and bumblebee pollination, microbial biostimulants and … | Agri-inputs & biocontrol |
| Biopreparations for bee health Biological preparations that protect managed bees — honeybee vaccines, probiotic and microbiome treatments, pathogen biocontrol and seaweed/botanical feed … | Agri-inputs & biocontrol |
| Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) The technology and infrastructure layer of protected cropping — tunable horticulture LED lighting, greenhouse climate and fertigation control, integrated … | Agri-tech & precision |
| Food security & vertical farms Controlled-environment agriculture deployed as a food-security instrument in import-dependent nations — Singapore's 30-by-30 vertical farms, UAE desert … | Agri-tech & precision |
| Genetic design of ornamental & landscape plants Genetic engineering of ornamental plants and landscape trees for novel traits, bioluminescence, and urban air purification. | Crop biotech |
| Grafting platforms for vegetables Robotic grafting platforms that join high-yield vegetable scions onto disease-resistant wild rootstocks — a non-GMO answer to soil-borne pathogens and the loss … | Crop biotech |
| Integrated aquaponics (RAS) Modular, commercial-scale systems that couple recirculating aquaculture (RAS) fish production with hydroponic or vertical-farm plant growing in a single closed … | Aquaculture & seafood |
| Mycorrhizal inoculants Mycorrhizal inoculants deliver arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi as seed, in-furrow and transplant treatments that extend the effective root surface 10–100×, … | Agri-inputs & biocontrol |
| Robotic pollination Autonomous robots and drones that mechanically pollinate greenhouse and orchard crops — using computer vision, targeted air pulses or controlled pollen … | Agri-tech & precision |
| Urban & vertical farming The vertical-farm operator industry after its 2023–2026 shakeout — stacked indoor farms growing leafy greens, herbs and strawberries near cities, where … | Agri-tech & precision |
Opportunities 1
| Tender | Lithuania – Laboratory reagents – 9580508 Reagentai molekuliniams tyrimams su įrangos įsigijimu panaudos būdu … Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universiteto ligoninė Kauno klinikos (PV) | Oct 12, 2026 5 days |