Low Cost Protected Cropping (LCPC)

Low cost protected cropping (LCPC) is a deliberate strategy to address a single (or limited number of) key production factors using one or more protected cropping elements. As a subcategory of protected cropping, LCPC has the distinct objective of a short payback period (less than 5 years)*. Commonly, this also represents a minimised capital investment, that is, a 'low cost' which is achieved by having a focus on a limited objective (factor) in the growing environment.

In contrast, protected cropping (PC) in general strives to

address numerous environmental constraints of crop

production, ultimately leading to a fully controlled

environment, that is,  controlled environment

horticulture (CEH) in which the aim is to address all

factors in the growing environment.

Low cost protected cropping is not simply a cheap form of

protected cropping but is instead a deliberate strategy to

modify or mitigate a key constraint in the growing

environment and simultaneously attempt to constrain

investment costs.

There are a number of protected cropping structures which

can be used as low cost protected cropping options.

These include:

• Low profile greenhouse (eg tunnel)
• Screenhouse (eg shadehouse and nethouse)
• Crop canopy (eg rainshelter or shadescreen)
• Cloche
• Floating crop cover

* as opposed to other forms of protected cropping, including

controlled environment horticulture, which may have investment

horizons of 5 - 15 years.