Broad Adoption of AI by SMEs in the Agriculture and Farming Sector Report

This new project (project 3) of the I&C WG commenced in February 2022 with a co-chaired leadership team composed by Inma Martinez (Spain), Digital Pioneer and AI Scientist, and Daniela Rus (USA), Deputy Dean of Research, Schwarzman College of Computing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It derived from Project 1, Broad Adoption of AI by SMEs, to address the specific needs and sector dynamics of agriculture and animal farming, which in many aspects, continue to deploy outdated methods and labor intensive practices that make agriculture ineffective, unsustainable, pollutant, and of low-paid (economically unattractive), and unnecessary duress for its workers. The Agriculture industry is currently undergoing an incredibly transformational and innovative moment in history thanks to digitalization and AI-driven technologies. If the 20th century agricultural industrialization created the mass-production of crops and animal farming in order to feed a growing population, the 21st century is forcing the Agriculture sectors to address radical challenges such as the demand for specific products on a global scale and out of season, climate change, the erosion of arable land due to antiquated and ineffective practices, and the preservation of potable water. In addition, a growing reversal of human eating habits towards more plant-based produce is contributing to the need to reconsider animal farming under its existing practices, not just on the moral grounds of their welfare, but because of the exorbitant use of arable land needed to feed them and the greenhouse effects that eating grain rather than grass causes in many of them. 20th century models that sought cheap routes to tackle agriculture are today lambasting the food value chains and our need to create a sustainable, climate aware, green economy. Project 3 is documenting AI deployments in agriculture and animal farming in the last 5 years to present evidence in an easy-to-use web portal that will showcase the potentiality and benefits of AI across a wide variety of agricultural sectors, geographies and the industrial development stages of the various GPAI Members. The purpose of Project 3 is to incentivize independent farmers and agricultural co-operatives to deploy AI and complementary digital technologies with clear return on investment, and sustainability practices.