Optimizing Nighttime Warming for Solar Greenhouse Cucumber: An Integrated Bio-Economic Framework Combining Non-Linear Cost–Volume–Profit and Data Envelopment Analysis
High energy consumption in winter greenhouses poses a challenge to agricultural sustainability in Northern China, where heating costs typically account for 40–60% of total operating expenses. This study integrated a non-linear cost–volume–profit (CVP) analysis and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to balance cucumber yields with escalating energy costs. A single-season, single-factor experiment was conducted using insulated greenhouse compartments to evaluate four night temperature gradients (10 °C, 13 °C, 16 °C, and 19 °C). Results showed that although the 19 °C treatment (T3) achieved the highest marketable yield, it was associated with lower economic return because heating costs increased disproportionately. Among the four tested nighttime temperatures, the 16 °C treatment (T2) showed the most favorable observed combination of yield, net profit, and DEA-based efficiency indicators under the present experimental conditions. However, because the experiment was conducted in a single season within a compartment-based greenhouse system and the CVP relationship was fitted using treatment-level means, this result should be interpreted as a preliminary and condition-specific finding rather than as definitive evidence of a universal optimum temperature. Accordingly, the integrated bio-economic framework presented here is best viewed as an analytical prototype that merits further validation across multiple seasons, cultivars, and greenhouse systems.
Authors
- Juanjuan Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4330-2394)
- Jie Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4366-7724)
- Haiwei Xu
- Zhulin Li
- Qichao Yan
- Tianlai Li
- Ru Yang
Institutions
- Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (CN)
- Shenyang Agricultural University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Sustainability
- Published
- 2026-04-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su18083817
- Primary Topic
- Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Shenyang Agricultural University