Vertical planting refers to a method of farming (or breeding) that fully utilizes three-dimensional space, with a simple example being the integrated "rice-duck-fish" farming. Broadly speaking, vertical planting can also be understood as making the most of various farming (or breeding) conditions, such as time and space, to achieve excellent, high-yield, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

The model of vertical agriculture starts with the definition of vertical agriculture, rationally utilizing natural resources, biological resources, and human production skills to optimize a vertical model composed of elements such as species, levels, energy cycles, material transformations, and technology. The basic units that constitute the vertical agriculture model are species structure (combinations of multiple species), spatial structure (multi-level configurations), temporal structure (sequential arrangement), food chain structure (material cycles), and technical structure (matching technologies). The main models of vertical agriculture include: the comprehensive utilization model of vertical agriculture in hilly and mountainous areas; the comprehensive utilization model of vertical agriculture in farmland; the comprehensive utilization model of vertical aquaculture in water bodies; and the comprehensive utilization model of courtyard vertical agriculture.