Case Study: Identifying Comparison Criteria for AHP Analysis of Controlled Environment Agriculture Systems

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is found to be representing an innovative and unique agricultural method developed for the purpose of addressing the increasing requirements for food production within a fast-paced urbanizing world. Through controlling the environmental variables, such as humidity, temperature, nutrient levels, and light, the concept of CEA ensures cultivation of crops throughout the year, as well as independent of the external climatic situations. In context to this, the current study explores the sustainability, related to three common CEA systems, namely, aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics. The purpose is to implement Analytic Hierarchy Process methodology to identify the essential differences and similarities among those three CEA systems. The fundamental aim of the current research is to evaluate the social, environmental, as well as financial outcomes of such systems to identify their overall potential and sustainability for further wider adoption.