Disrupting Agriculture

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture (FAO) estimates that farmers will need to produce about 70% more food by 2050. To accommodate the growing demand, the agricultural industry has grown from labor-intensive to smart agriculture, or Agriculture 4.0, which includes farm equipment that are enhanced using autonomous unmanned decision systems (robotics), big data, and artificial intelligence. In this chapter, the authors conduct a systematic review focusing on big data and artificial intelligence in agriculture. To further guide the literature review process and organize the findings, they devise a framework based on extant literature. The framework is aimed to capture key aspects of agricultural processes, supporting supply chain, key stakeholders with a particular emphasis on the potential, drivers, and challenges of big data and artificial intelligence. They discuss how this new paradigm may be shaped differently depending on context, namely developed and developing countries.

A research vision for food systems in the 2020s: Defying the status quo

“…These are just a few of the many tools and databases available to better inform decision making. Innovations extend to circular economy thinking and technologies to reduce food loss and waste, nutrition value chains, and agriculture technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, drones, algae feedstocks and bioplastics ( El-Gayar and Ofori, 2020 ; Jurgilevich et al, 2016 ; Klerkx and Rose, 2020 ). Cultivated meats, crowd farming and 3D printing are no longer future technologies but “now” technologies.…”