Vertical farming in China: lettuce in 35 days and 800 tonnes of vegetables from one hall

Nanjing, in Jiangsu province, has the region's largest plant-growing facility. The channel 溧水发布 described it in April 2026 on the portal 网易. The hall covers 1 100 square metres, with crops stacked on six levels. The operators call it a "green production hall". 许桂俊, the agronomist in charge at 深能南京能源控股, explains the difference: "In a field lettuce usually grows for 60 days, here it reaches the market after 35 days." Light, temperature and humidity are controlled so precisely that the cycle is nearly 20 days shorter.

The numbers are clear. More than 95 percent of the lettuce is used, against 60–70 percent in field cultivation. Yield per unit of area is more than 50 times higher than in a field, with one fifth of the labour input. The facility supplies about 100 kg of lettuce a day, and at full capacity that is to be 240 kg. Besides vegetables, 12 varieties of horned violet (角堇) grow there. From seedling to flowering takes about two months, flowering lasts up to four months, and one plant produces more than 200 flowers. Daily production exceeds 100 000 pieces. About 3 000 flowers are shipped daily, at peak even 15 000, mainly to hotels in Shanghai and nearby cities.

Photovoltaics on the roof, vegetables under it

The energy balance is striking. The photovoltaic installation on the roof generates more than 24 000 000 kWh a year. The whole facility consumes only 300–400 000 kWh over the year. Electricity is produced on the roof and food underneath, with a surplus that can be sold or used otherwise.

Hebei: 800 tonnes a year from an air-film hall

A second example comes from the Chinese trade weekly 温室园艺. In 大厂 county in Langfang, Hebei province, the first phase of the vegetable facility 源航国信 has started up, with a production capacity of 800 tonnes a year. The structure is based on an "air film" (气膜), a hall held up by air pressure. The weekly also reports vegetable price monitoring: in the first week of September 2026 (31 August to 6 September) the average producer price of 28 key vegetable types was 2.32 yuan per kilogram, 0.87 percent more than a week earlier and 19.44 percent less year on year.

What it is all for

Vertical farming does not compete with a field on cost. It competes on predictability. One hectare of a hall yields as much as several dozen hectares, the cycle is shorter, and delivery to the city is counted in hours. For fresh leafy vegetables, herbs and edible flowers that argument is stronger than price. The energy bill remains the problem. Even if a facility has a surplus from photovoltaics, LED lighting on six levels is a fixed cost that sunlight cannot replace.