Greenhouse ROI calculator: return on investment and payback
Model annual production, revenue, operating cost, EBITDA and payback for a commercial greenhouse project. Supplier-neutral. Designed for projects from USD $250,000.
How do you calculate ROI on a commercial greenhouse?
Greenhouse ROI is annual EBITDA divided by total invested CAPEX. EBITDA is yield × area × farmgate price minus annual operating cost (labour, energy, water, inputs, packaging, maintenance). Simple payback is CAPEX ÷ EBITDA.
- Formula: ROI % = (annual revenue − annual OPEX) ÷ total CAPEX × 100.
- The calculator assumes no typical return: ROI and payback come only from the yield, price, operating cost and CAPEX you enter.
- CAPEX defaults follow the published SeedMatchGroup per-m² greenhouse cost benchmark (planning ranges, not quotes).
- Energy strategy, offtake contracts and cultivar choice move ROI more than structure price.
Estimate only — not a quotation. Outputs are indicative planning ranges based on the values you enter and typical commercial benchmarks. Real pricing, specifications and lead times vary by country, site conditions and supplier, and are confirmed only in written offers collected through a private RFQ.
Project inputs
Utilisation factor 80% · OPEX US$15–30/m²/yr
Typical 30–70 kg/m²
Typical US$0.8–2.5 /kg
Published benchmark for this technology: US$50–120/m². Replace with your quote.
Energy, labour, inputs, packaging, maintenance. Excludes depreciation and financing.
| Low | Base | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA / yr | US$105K | US$279K | US$407K |
| Return on CAPEX | 11% | 33% | 53% |
| Payback | ~9 yrs | ~3 yrs | ~2 yrs |
How the scenarios work: Base uses your inputs. Low = yield and farmgate price 15% below your inputs, operating cost and CAPEX 15% above. High = yield and price 10% above, operating cost and CAPEX 10% below.
Planning scenario only — not an investment appraisal, financial advice or a supplier quote. Real returns depend on crop protocol, climate, energy strategy, labour, financing and offtake. Validate with your own advisers and supplier bids.
See how commercial greenhouse costs break down per hectare before you lock the CAPEX assumption above.
Turn this estimate into a project brief
Send these figures to the greenhouse RFQ form. Your inputs and results are attached to the brief, a sourcing specialist reviews it, and only then are suitable suppliers or project partners approached.
Buying more than once? Save these project details to your buyer profile so your site, crop, budget and timeline are pre-filled on every future request.
Indicative only. Not financial advice, not agronomic advice, not engineering design. Final numbers require supplier, agronomist, engineer and local regulatory review.
Turn this estimate into a qualified project
SeedMatchGroup is a supplier-neutral, human-led platform. We do not manufacture or resell equipment — we help buyers specify the project, review relevant suppliers privately and compare the written offers received. Supplier participation and timing are not guaranteed.
Send these numbers to the RFQ Builder
The numbers below were calculated with SeedMatchGroup's Greenhouse ROI Calculator. Indicative — the specialist will confirm scope before contacting suppliers.
15 inputs · assumptions · results
How this calculator works
- Production (kg/yr) = area (m²) × yield (kg/m²/yr) × utilisation (share of area in production for the chosen technology).
- Revenue (US$/yr) = production × farmgate price (US$/kg).
- EBITDA (US$/yr) = revenue − operating cost (US$/m²/yr × area).
- Return on CAPEX = EBITDA ÷ CAPEX (US$/m² × area). Simple payback (years) = CAPEX ÷ EBITDA, shown only when EBITDA is positive.
- Time horizon: one steady-state production year. No ramp-up, inflation, depreciation, tax, financing or discounting.
The CAPEX default comes from the published commercial greenhouse cost benchmark (indicative planning ranges, not supplier quotes). Yield, price and operating-cost hints are starting points to replace with your own agronomy, market and utility data. Results are a planning scenario, not an investment appraisal, and no return or payback is guaranteed.
Frequently asked questions
There is no single realistic figure. Return depends on your crop, achievable yield, farmgate price, energy and labour cost, installed CAPEX and how much of the area is in production. This calculator does not assume a typical return: it computes return on CAPEX and simple payback only from the yield, price, operating cost and CAPEX you enter, and payback is never guaranteed.
The operating cost per m² you enter should cover energy, water, fertigation inputs, substrate, seed or young plants, plant protection, labour, packaging, insurance and maintenance. The model excludes depreciation, land, permits, first-crop working capital, tax and financing costs, so the result is EBITDA, not net profit.
Payback here is the simple undiscounted payback on EBITDA versus indicative CAPEX. Bankable feasibility studies use discounted cash flow with IRR, NPV and sensitivity analysis — this calculator is designed to test whether a project is worth taking to that next stage.
No. SeedMatchGroup is a supplier-neutral procurement platform. We help buyers specify the project, then open one private RFQ to qualified global manufacturers, integrators and EPCs so proposals arrive comparable.
Turning this estimate into a request? The greenhouse systems request builder lists what changes a quote — structure, cover, climate and installation scope — and opens a pre-filled request that our team reviews before any supplier is contacted.
Understanding the values
What each choice in this calculator means, and how the options differ in practice.
- Crop choice
- Each crop pairs a yield range with a farmgate price range. High-value crops (herbs, strawberries) give more revenue per m² but demand tighter climate control and marketing; bulk crops (tomato, cucumber) are more forgiving but lower margin.
- Technology level
- Sets how much of the area is effectively in production and the operating cost per m². High-tech houses cost more to run but hold yield steadier across seasons; tunnels are cheap to run but lose production in extreme weather.
- Yield and price inputs
- Enter values you have evidence for — local trial data, buyer contracts or extension figures. The calculator does not assume a typical return; it computes only from what you enter.
- Payback period
- Simple undiscounted payback on EBITDA versus indicative CAPEX. It is a screening figure, not a bankable metric — feasibility studies add discounting, tax and financing.
Illustrative project summary
1 ha multi-span tomato house
A new commercial entrant builds a first multi-span block with fertigation, insect screens and a basic climate computer.
1 ha · Multi-span polyhouse · Tomatoes
Indicative full greenhouse project CAPEX
USD 575K – USD 1.56M
Illustration only, not a real project or quotation. This is the structure, equipment and site-works budget for the example greenhouse, not the price of this calculator’s individual system, seeds or inputs, and not a result calculated from your entries. Excludes land, permits, packhouse, financing costs and working capital.
Based on the published commercial greenhouse cost benchmark. Written offers require a private project review; commercial projects start from USD 250K.
What can change the result?
This is a preliminary planning estimate based on the values you entered. The variables below usually move the outcome most, and should be confirmed with an agronomist, engineer and supplier offers before final design.
- Crop and cultivar — water, climate and support requirements differ per crop
- Production target and realised yield, confirmed by an agronomist
- Energy and utility tariffs, plus tariff escalation over time
- Labour availability, productivity and local wage levels
- Financing terms, contingency and currency movement
Questions this calculator answers
Typical buyer and investor searches this tool is built for, including the markets where we run the most commercial projects.
- greenhouse ROI and payback period per hectare for a commercial project
- greenhouse ROI and payback period for a 2-hectare project — India
- greenhouse ROI and payback period: indicative planning ranges — Kenya
- greenhouse ROI and payback period benchmarks for investors — Saudi Arabia
- greenhouse ROI and payback period under local market conditions — Mexico
- greenhouse ROI and payback period — what to specify in a supplier RFQ
Method and decision path
How to use this result in a commercial project
Use the result to test scope and compare scenarios. It is not a design, agronomic prescription, financing offer or supplier quotation.
1. Enter site evidence
Replace defaults with measured area, climate, water, energy, crop and commercial assumptions.
2. Test scenarios
Change one assumption at a time and record the effect on capacity, cost, demand or return.
3. Validate the duty
Ask the relevant agronomist, engineer or financial adviser to check the inputs and constraints.
4. Prepare a private RFQ
Carry the confirmed scope into a human-reviewed brief so written offers can be compared on the same basis.
Final specifications, performance, prices, supplier participation and timing depend on the site and written supplier responses; none is guaranteed by this calculator.
Tell us five things and we route your brief
These fields decide which specialist and which suppliers see your request. Nothing is submitted here — your answers are carried into the private RFQ.
The USD 250K project threshold applies to capital projects. Recurring fertilizer programmes are reviewed by shipment size, annual volume and sourcing fit.
A sourcing specialist shortlists reviewed providers for your scope and returns comparable offers. Supplier details stay with us — all communication runs through SeedMatchGroup.
Estimate only: these figures are indicative planning numbers, not a quotation. Final pricing, specifications and lead times come from supplier offers after your brief is reviewed.
Plan the project around the numbers
A calculator output is a starting point. Pair it with the planning guides below to align timeline, irrigation, budget and risk before you launch an RFQ.
One private brief, specialist review, private supplier research and a like-for-like comparison.
Spec gaps, MOQ, delivery, Incoterms and evidence labels for seeds, greenhouses, irrigation, fertilizers and produce.
Month-by-month schedule from concept to first harvest across 9 stages.
Design principles for drip, pivot, fertigation and filtration on commercial projects.
How CAPEX, working capital and operating cost drive the project business case.
The ten most expensive planning and procurement pitfalls — and how to avoid them.
Procurement answers behind these numbers
A model output only holds if the scope, contract route and delivery terms match the assumptions. These reference answers cover the commercial decisions that move the figure.
- Turnkey EPC vs separate equipment packages
- What belongs in a greenhouse equipment specification
- Normal payment milestones in equipment contracts
- Which Incoterms to use for greenhouse and irrigation equipment
- How long a commercial greenhouse takes from order to handover
- What is normally the owner's scope on a greenhouse project
Move greenhouse roi calculator: return on investment and payback into a structured RFQ
Editorial · not a sales pitchCalculator outputs are indicative. When your numbers stabilise, a supplier-neutral RFQ turns those estimates into a consistent brief for comparing the written offers that participating suppliers provide.
The facts a complete, supplier-neutral request on this topic includes. Use it as a checklist before submitting.
- Covered area (m² or ha), bay/gutter layout preference and target gutter height
- Site location, altitude and design loads (wind, snow, seismic) if known
- Crop and production system (soil, substrate, hydroponic, nursery)
- Covering choice: polyethylene film, polycarbonate or glass — and expected lifetime
- Climate scope: ventilation, screens, heating, cooling/pad-fan, CO₂, controls
- Irrigation/fertigation scope and water source quality
- Target commissioning date, phasing and budget band (USD $250K+)
- Incoterms, destination port/site and who handles civil works and erection
- Site plan or coordinates with plot dimensions
- Soil/water analysis where available
- Any existing concept drawing, BOQ or previous supplier offer
Opens the RFQ Builder pre-scoped as a greenhouse project so suppliers quote structure, covering, climate and irrigation on the same basis. You stay in control — nothing is submitted until you review and confirm.
Free to submit · supplier-neutral · reviewed by a specialist before any supplier is contacted.
Running these numbers for a client project?
Agronomists, greenhouse and irrigation consultants use this calculator for feasibility, then hand the project to us for supplier shortlisting, RFQ preparation and quote comparison. You stay client-facing and we work through you.
Your client relationship stays with you — we work through you and never contact your client unless you ask.
Indicative only
- This tool is indicative only.
- It is not financial advice.
- It is not agronomic advice.
- It is not engineering design.
- Final numbers require supplier, agronomist, engineer and local regulatory review.
SeedMatch Group is an independent agricultural project sourcing and RFQ platform. We are not a farm, seed producer, fertilizer manufacturer, irrigation manufacturer, greenhouse builder, EPC contractor, lender or financial advisor. Supplier and project partner outreach is handled only after a commercial project brief is reviewed.
Supplier and manufacturer content is provided for research, transparency and discovery only. Buyers submit one project or RFQ to SeedMatch Group; our team validates and organises it, manages any suitable supplier or manufacturer outreach, and presents the responses through SeedMatch. There is no public directory of company identities, automatic matching, direct messaging or direct buyer-supplier contact.