Transitioning from Open-Field to Controlled Environment: Seeking a Complete AI Greenhouse System to Cut Water & Energy Costs

Our challenge: Buonorto is an open-field vegetable farm based in Sabaudia, Lazio, with a long-established supply relationship with large-scale retail distributors. Over recent years, the combined cost of water and electricity has become the primary threat to the economic sustainability of our operations. Irrigation in the Pontine Plain already draws on increasingly scarce freshwater resources, while energy costs for pumping and climate management continue to rise.We have reached a turning point: continuing with conventional green houses production under current cost conditions is no longer viable. We are ready to explore a structural transition — piloting a closed, controlled-environment growing system that eliminates our dependency on weather, reduces water and energy consumption dramatically, and stabilises our output for retail supply.

Specifically, we are looking for a technology partner able to provide:

A complete, integrated closed farming system — including physical modular infrastructure and AI-driven digital control, soilness culture capability to eliminate soil degradation and reduce input costs. Digital twin and IoT automation for continuous optimisation of water, energy, substrate and crop performance

A system that is modular and scalable — starting from a pilot unit and expandable to larger production volumes

Proven robustness in resource-constrained and climatically challenging environments

Why this matters:

A closed controlled-environment system would allow Buonorto to produce year-round, independent of weather and seasonal constraints, while dramatically reducing the water and energy costs that currently threaten our viability. It would also strengthen our position as a reliable, sustainable supplier to retail distributors increasingly demanding environmental accountability.

Type of technology partner sought:

We are looking for a technology SME that offers a complete hardware and software solution for closed greenhouse or container farm environments — combining AI, IoT, digital twin and soilless culture — willing to co-develop and validate the system at our farm in Sabaudia as part of a GATE5.0 pilot project.