Accelerating Agricultural Digital Transformation through AI and IoT

The agricultural sector is one of the largest in the world, with an estimated global value of USD 2.4 trillion. Farming provides jobs for 1.3 billion people – 19% of the world’s population. However, to meet the needs of a rising global population that is expected to reach 9.7 billion people by the year 2050, global food production will need to be expedited by an estimated 70%. This necessitates the adoption of emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, Big data, augmented reality, sensors, and drones for the control and optimization of agricultural production processes, supply chains and food systems. The incorporation and subsequent combination of these technologies have already started to radically transform agricultural domain and have resulted in the unfolding of a new concept known as “digital agriculture”. The application of “digital agriculture” is on the rise, with its global market estimated to reach over USD 23 billion by 2022 – accounting for an average annual growth of nearly 20%. This concept leverages disruptive technologies to increase crop yield, maximize resource efficiency and strengthen the overall supply chains. Digital agriculture encompasses precision agriculture or precision farming and also incorporates techniques such as controlled-environment agriculture, vertical farming and smart greenhouses. In this context of digital agriculture, this webinar episode delved into the various aspects of leveraging AI and IoT in accelerating digital transformation for agricultural production processes, and examined the current standardization terrain related to the agricultural sphere.