Digital Ecosystem For Innovation In Agriculture

This book presents the latest findings in the areas of digital ecosystem for innovation in agriculture. The book is organized into two sections with thirteen chapters dealing with specialized areas. It provides the reader with an overview of the frameworks and technologies involved in the digitalization of agriculture, as well as the data processing methods, decision-making processes, and innovative services/applications for enabling digital transformations in agriculture. The chapters are written by experts sharing their experiences in lucid language through case studies, suitable illustrations, and tables. The contents have been designed to fulfill the needs of geospatial, data science, agricultural, and environmental sciences of universities, agricultural universities, technological universities, research institutes, and academic colleges worldwide. It helps the planners, policymakers, and extension scientists plan and sustainably manage agriculture and natural resources.

This timely book collects the latest research on digital transformations unfolding in agriculture across the globe, with a special focus on Russia and the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The authors present a coherent framework for understanding the factors driving digital transformation of agriculture as a whole industry and agricultural enterprises in particular, through the prism of global trends, adoption opportunities, and barriers of economic digitalization and the ongoing transition to Industry 4.0. The volume serves as a unique source of cutting-edge research on the frontier digital technology available for agricultural enterprises, as well as it discusses predominant strategies, potential drivers of change, and responses to digital technology challenges faced by the industry. Such topics as intelligent systems, data analytics and machine learning, digital platforms, services and ecosystems, as well as the Internet of Things are extensively covered by the leading researchers, with numerous cases of industry technology applications. This volume makes a unique contribution to the study of digital technology applications for building innovative agriculture, capturing critical trends and benchmarks in digital transformation of the whole industry. Due to its practical focus, the book appeals to practitioners and policymakers, not just academics. This is also a valuable resource for graduate students interested in digital technology advances, firm competitiveness, and sustainable innovation.

Digital Agricultural Ecosystem The book comprehensively explores the dynamic synergy between modern technology and agriculture, showcasing how advancements such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and smart farming practices are reshaping the landscape to ensure food security in the era of climate change, as well as bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and practical implementation. Agriculture has historically been the foundation of human civilization and benefits communities all around the world. Agriculture has a creative, adaptable, and innovative history, and as the digital age draws closer, agriculture is once again poised for change. Each of the 20 chapters explores the connection between agricultural and technological advancements, and are divided into four key areas. Part 1 covers knowledge sharing in the digital agricultural ecosystem. In the context of modern agriculture, the chapters underscore the importance of information flow. Through comprehensive reviews of literature and assessments of farmer participation on social media platforms, these chapters illustrate the value of information sharing for sustainable agriculture. Part 2 explores the adoption and impact of digital technologies in agriculture. The use of cutting-edge digital technologies in agriculture is examined thoroughly in this section. The chapters included here outline how precision, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology have the potential to transform methods of agriculture and improve food systems. Part 3 addresses smart farming and sustainable agriculture. This section focuses on sustainability and offers details on eco-friendly production methods, the significance of smart farming in many nations, including India and the UK, and cost-effective fertilizer sprayer technologies. Part 4 examines the modeling and analysis of agricultural systems. This last section explores how mathematical modeling and data analytics are used in agricultural systems, with insights on everything from the study of credit access constraints in rural regions to water resource management in irrigation systems. Audience The diverse readership includes farmers, agronomists, agricultural researchers, policymakers, environmentalists, information technologists, and students from academic and professional fields who are eager to learn more about how digital innovation and sustainable agriculture can be used to address global issues such as climate change, food security, and smart farming.

Using real cases of food fi rms and agriculture supply chains as a context, How is Digitalization Affecting Agri-food? New Business Models, Strategies and Organizational Forms aims to understand the key themes in strategic and organizational research in this area. Despite the importance of food and agriculture in the current political and societal context, analysis of the impact of digitalization and information technologies on the industry is still limited. The objective of this monograph is to understand the direction of this change. With case studies of food firms and agriculture supply chains it sets out to conceptualize food organizing and organizations as a fruitful object of inquiry, both at the intra and interorganizational levels. It aims to understand new business models, strategies, and organizational forms. Contributions in this stream of research have the potential to yield important and relevant insights for both scholars and societies. This book is written primarily for academics engaged in innovation management or strategy, or conducting organizational behavior research. It will also be of relevance to practitioners and managers in the agri-food industry.

The digital agriculture revolution holds a promise to build an agriculture and food system that is efficient, environmentally sustainable, and equitable, one that can help deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. Unlike past technological revolutions in agriculture, which began on farms, the current revolution is being sparked at multiple points along the agrifood value chain. The change is driven by the ability to collect, use, and analyze massive amounts of machine-readable data about practically every aspect of the value chain, and by the emergence of digital platforms disrupting existing business models. All this allows for drastically reduced transaction costs and pervasive information asymmetries that plague the agrifood system. The success of the digital transformation, however, is not guaranteed as the risks it brings are numerous, including those related to data governance and inadequate competition within and between digital platforms. What’s Cooking: Digital Transformation of the Agrifood System investigates how digital technologies can accelerate the transformation of the agrifood system by increasing efficiency on the farm; improving farmers’ access to output, input, and financial markets; strengthening quality control and traceability; and improving the design and delivery of agriculture policies. It also identifies a key role for the public sector in maximizing the benefits of this process while minimizing its risks, through enabling an innovation ecosystem featuring open datasets, digital platforms, digital entrepreneurship, digital payment systems, and digital skills and encouraging equitable technology adoption.

This study—which includes a pilot intervention in Kenya—aims to further the state of knowledge about the emerging trend of disruptive agricultural technologies (DATs) in Africa, with a focus on supply-side dynamics. The first part of the study is a stocktaking analysis to assess the number, scope, trend, and characteristics of scalable disruptive technology innovators in agriculture in Africa. From a database of 434 existing DAT operations, the analysis identified 194 as scalable. The second part of the study is a comparative case study of Africa’s two most successful DAT ecosystems in Kenya and Nigeria, which together account for half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s active DATs. The objective of these two case studies is to understand the successes, challenges, and opportunities faced by each country in fostering a conducive innovation ecosystem for scaling up DATs. The case study analysis focuses on six dimensions of the innovation ecosystem in Kenya and Nigeria: finance, regulatory environment, culture, density, human capital, and infrastructure. The third part of the study is based on the interactions and learnings from a pilot event to boost the innovation ecosystem in Kenya. The Disruptive Agricultural Technology Innovation Knowledge and Challenge Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, brought together more than 300 key stakeholders from large technology companies, agribusiness companies, and public agencies; government representatives and experts from research and academic institutions; and representatives from financial institutions, foundations, donors, and venture capitalists. Scaling Up Disruptive Agricultural Technologies in Africa concludes by establishing that DATs are demonstrating early indications of a positive impact in addressing food system constraints. It offers potential entry points and policy recommendations to facilitate the broader adoption of DATs and improve the overall food system.

THE DIGITAL AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION The book integrates computational intelligence, applied artificial intelligence, and modern agricultural practices and will appeal to scientists, agriculturists, and those in plant and crop science management. There is a need for synergy between the application of modern scientific innovation in the area of artificial intelligence and agriculture, considering the major challenges from climate change consequences viz. rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, the emergence of new crop pests, drought, flood, etc. This volume reports on high-quality research (theory and practice including prototype & conceptualization of ideas, frameworks, real-world applications, policy, standards, psychological concerns, case studies, and critical surveys) on recent advances toward the realization of the digital agriculture revolution as a result of the convergence of different disruptive technologies. The book touches upon the following topics which have contributed to revolutionizing agricultural practices. Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture (AI models and architectures, system design, real-world applications of AI, machine learning and deep learning in the agriculture domain, integration & coordination of systems and issues & challenges). IoT and Big Data Analytics Applications in Agriculture (theory & architecture and the use of various types of sensors in optimizing agriculture resources and final product, benefits in real-time for crop acreage estimation, monitoring & control of agricultural produce). Robotics & Automation in Agriculture Systems (Automation challenges, need and recent developments and real case studies). Intelligent and Innovative Smart Agriculture Applications (use of hybrid intelligence in better crop health and management). Privacy, Security, and Trust in Digital Agriculture (government framework & policy papers). Open Problems, Challenges, and Future Trends. Audience Researchers in computer science, artificial intelligence, electronics engineering, agriculture automation, crop management, and science.

This report is the outcome of the Digital Excellence in Agriculture: FAO-ITU regional contest on good practices advancing digital agriculture in Europe and Central Asia, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office for Europe and Central Asia and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Offices for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Launched in November 2020, the contest sought to identify, showcase and celebrate good practices and innovative solutions that have proven successful in advancing the digital transformation of agriculture in the regions. With nearly 200 applicants from 36 countries in the regions, the initiative revealed a diverse, dynamic and future-thinking ecosystem of innovators and problem-solvers. This report summarizes the main trends in digital services and products, the most important technologies used, as well as the difficulties and challenges that arise in the development of digital agricultural applications. Presenting the 29 finalists, the report shares the key challenges applicants are addressing, the digital technologies they are using to succeed, their journeys and their plans for the near future based on the information provided. The report also analyses how the technology infrastructure, the regulatory and business environment, the availability of human capital, and the COVID-19 pandemic represented both challenges and opportunities for digital agriculture practitioners. It provides useful information for developers and service providers already active in this field or planning to enter it, as well as guidance for decision-makers on possible points of intervention.