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.

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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

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article

Optimizing Nighttime Warming for Solar Greenhouse Cucumber: An Integrated Bio-Economic Framework Combining Non-Linear Cost–Volume–Profit and Data Envelopment Analysis

Juanjuan Ding, Jie Li, Haiwei Xu, Zhulin Li et al.
Sustainability
Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
article

Optimizing Nighttime Warming for Solar Greenhouse Cucumber: An Integrated Bio-Economic Framework Combining Non-Linear Cost–Volume–Profit and Data Envelopment Analysis

Juanjuan Ding, Jie Li, Haiwei Xu, Zhulin Li, Qichao Yan, Tianlai Li, Ru Yang
article en

Abstract

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.

SustainabilityVol. 18(8)
Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (CN), Shenyang Agricultural University (CN)
Shenyang Agricultural University
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
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Optimizing Nighttime Warming for Solar Greenhouse Cucumber: An Integrated Bio-Economic Framework Combining Non-Linear Cost–Volume–Profit and Data Envelopment Analysis — Juanjuan Ding, Jie Li, et al. · Sustainability (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS