Analysis of AI-Based Predictive Models Using Vertical Farming Environmental Factors and Crop Growth Data

Vertical farming requires precise environmental control, yet long-term multivariable analyses linking environmental dynamics and crop growth remain limited. This study analyzes a two-year operational dataset from a commercial vertical farm in South Korea to evaluate the suitability of advanced artificial intelligence models for harvest yield prediction. Conventional machine learning models and recent deep learning architectures were systematically benchmarked under identical conditions. Among them, the patch-based Transformer model achieved the highest predictive accuracy (R2 = 0.942; RMSE = 5.81 g per plant). The variable-importance analysis revealed that daily light integral and CO2 concentration were the dominant drivers of harvest yield variability, jointly accounting for more than 76% of total contribution. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of Transformer-based architectures for long-term multivariate time series modeling and provide actionable insights for the data-driven optimization of vertical farming systems.