Agriculture 4.0: The Promises for Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems

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Date

2021-01

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Busitema University

Abstract

The transformative power of industry 4.0 in agricultural and food systems (Agri-food) can be attested from the explosive disruption of agricultural production infrastructures such as connected farms, new farm equipment, and connected tractors and machines which is well-known today as Agriculture 4.0 or Agri-food 4.0. The driving force behind the emergence of Agriculture 4.0 is the dire need to increase efficiency, productivity and quality in agri-food systems, and environmental protection. This has gained attention of many researchers in the recent past and thus, making Agriculture 4.0 a buzzword among the academic literature today. Despite the fact that a number of studies have covered the applications of several disruptive technologies in agri-food, the key technologies that are transforming the agri-food have been ill-defined. Therefore, the present paper aimed at identifying the key disruptive technologies and highlighting their application areas in agri-food. Massive exploratory literature search was conducted on the published papers obtained from the electronic databases including Scopus, ScienceDirect, Wiley, Emerald insight, Taylor & Francis, and Springer. The applications of 11 disruptive technologies in agri-food were analyzed based on 119 published papers. The results showed that 5 key disruptive technologies including Internet of things, Drones, Blockchain, Big Data, and Robotics are emblematic of Agriculture 4.0 epoch. The application areas of these technologies in agri-food are clearly highlighted. The present study revealed the need for extensive research to expand the application areas of the disruptive technologies in agri-food.

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Keywords

Internet of things, Drones, Big Data, Blockchain, Robotics, Industry 4.0, Agriculture 4.0, Disruptive technologies, Agri-food 4.0

Citation

Bongomin, O., Okello, C., Ocen, G. G., & Tigalana, D. (2012). Agriculture 4.0: The Promises for Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems. Busitema University Science, Technology and Innovation Symposium.