smart farming

Effective decision-making requires the evaluation of several criteria rather than a single, preferred criterion. The best decision options (alternatives) are recommended to decision-makers when a multi-criteria decision problem is addressed. This study develops a multi-criteria selection method for the assessment of small-scale anaerobic digester technology by combining two existing methods. The Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART) and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approaches of multiple-criteria decision analysis were used as a decision support tool, and the preferred anaerobic digester technology was selected from a list of eleven potential small-scale digester technologies used in low to middle-income countries...

Rice holds a significant position in the global food supply chain, particularly in Asian, African, and Latin American countries. However, rice pests and diseases cause significant damage to the supply and growth of the rice cultivation industry. Therefore, this article provides a high-quality dataset that has been reviewed by agricultural experts. The dataset is well-suited to support the development of automation systems and smart farming practices. It plays a vital role in facilitating the automatic construction, detection, and classification of rice diseases...

Smart Farming Technologies enable plant-specific agrochemical applications which can increase the efficiency and reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture. However, the uptake of Smart Farming Technologies remains slow despite their potential to enhance sustainable transformation of food systems. The design of policies to promote sustainable agricultural technologies requires a holistic understanding of the complex set of factors driving the adoption of innovations at farm level. This study has a focus on behavioral factors, such as pro-environmental attitude, personal innovativeness and moral norms...

Mountain agroecosystems in Latin America provide multiple ecosystem functions (EFs) and products from global to local scales, particularly for the rural communities who depend on them. Agroforestry has been proposed as a climate-smart farming strategy throughout much of the region to help conserve biodiversity and enhance multiple EFs, especially in mountainous regions. However, large-scale synthesis on the potential of agroforestry across Latin America is lacking. To understand the potential impacts of agroforestry at the continental level, we conducted a meta-analysis examining the effects of agroforestry on biological activity and diversity (BIAD) and multiple EFs across mountain agroecosystems of Latin America...

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a promising tool in chlorophyll quantification, providing a non-invasive method to collect important information for effective crop management. HSI contributes to food security solutions by optimising crop yields. In this study, we presented a custom HSI system specifically designed to provide a quantitative analysis of leaf chlorophyll content (LCC). To ensure precise estimation, significant wavelengths were identified using optimal-band analysis. Our research was centred on two sets of 120 leaf samples sourced from Thailand's unique Chaew Khing rice variant...

Chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) have emerged as a promising tool in agricultural advancements due to their unique properties including, biocompatability, biodegradability, non-toxicity and remarkable versatility. These inherent properties along with their antimicrobial, antioxidant and eliciting activities enable CNPs to play an important role in increasing agricultural productivity, enhancing nutrient absorption and improving pest management strategies. Furthermore, the nano-formulation of chitosan have the ability to encapsulate various agricultural amendments, enabling the controlled release of pesticides, fertilizers, plant growth promoters and biocontrol agents, thus offering precise and targeted delivery mechanisms for enhanced efficiency...

Lentil is an important pulse that contributes to global food security and the sustainability of farming systems. Hence, it is important to increase the production of this crop, especially in the context of climate changes through plant breeding aiming at the development of high-yielding and climate-smart cultivars. However, conventional plant breeding approaches are time and resources consuming. Thus, speed breeding techniques enabling rapid generation turnover could help to accelerate the development of new varieties...

The objective of this experiment was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a commercially available tannin product (Silvafeed® ByPro, 70% tannic acid) as an enteric methane (CH4 ) mitigation and preventative animal health strategy in Holstein heifers (BW = 219 ± 17 kg; 9 mo), reared under organic production system requirements. Twenty heifers were randomly assigned to one of four commercial tannin supplementation treatments as follows: 0% (0 g/hd/d; CON), 0.075% (~5 g/hd/d; LOW), 0.15% (~10 g/hd/d; MED), and 0...

Increasing agricultural productivity while ensuring environmental sustainability are two important targets in achieving the sustainable development goals under climatic shocks. In this regard, different climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices have been recommended and promoted to meet these goals and targets. However, the adoption of these practices remains low and variable. For the most part, low adoption has been attributed to external factors. Behavioural and psychological factors also matter but have received little empirical and policy attention...

The worldwide emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has increased focus on the potential to mitigate emissions through climate-smart agricultural practices, including regenerative, digital, and controlled environment farming systems. The effectiveness of these solutions largely depends on their ability to address environmental concerns, generate economic returns, and meet supply chain needs. In this Review, we summarize the state of knowledge on the GHG impacts and profitability of these three existing and emerging farming systems...

Over the past few decades, the food industry has undergone revolutionary changes due to the impacts of globalization, technological advancements, and ever-evolving consumer demands. Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data have become pivotal in strengthening food safety, production, and marketing. With the continuous evolution of AI technology and big data analytics, the food industry is poised to embrace further changes and developmental opportunities. An increasing number of food enterprises will leverage AI and big data to enhance product quality, meet consumer needs, and propel the industry toward a more intelligent and sustainable future...

Minimum tillage (MT) is a sustainable farming practice that limit soil disturbance only to planting stations while leaving the rest of the soil undisturbed. It is an important component of conservation agriculture, which aims to raise agricultural productivity, improve the livelihoods of farmers and build resilient farming systems. Despite the growing empirical literature on its adoption and benefits, there is a paucity of empirical evidence on the heterogeneous effect of length of MT adoption on household welfare...

Urban farming has gained popularity in recent years, as more people have become interested in locally grown food and reducing their carbon footprint. Smart hydroponic systems can be an important tool for urban farming as they allow for precise control over plant growth and require less space and resources than traditional farming methods. Urban areas often lack access to land suitable for farming, making hydroponic systems a viable option for growing crops in limited space. Readily available hydroponic systems in the market are costly and not cost effective, thus hydroponic systems are usually only installed in larger scale farming...

Over the decades, agri-food security has become one of the most critical concerns in the world. Sustainable agri-food production technologies have been reliable in mitigating poverty caused by high demands for food. Recently, the applications of agri-food system technologies have been meaningfully changing the worldwide scene due to both external strengths and internal forces. Digital agriculture (DA) is a pioneering technology helping to meet the growing global demand for sustainable food production. Integrating different sub-branches of DA technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics into agriculture practices to reduce waste, optimize farming inputs and enhance crop production...

The traditional rain-fed agriculture system of Ethiopia is suffering from climate change impacts and extremes. It must be improved to feed the growing population and create a resilient society. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is currently promoted as an approach intended to increase sustainable agricultural productivity, enhance household resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study was, therefore, undertaken to examine how food security can be improved by the adoption of multiple climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices of smallholder farmers in a moist tropical montane ecosystem of Southwest Ethiopia...

This paper introduces a real-time water quality dataset of five ponds for fish farming obtained through an IoT framework for monitoring the aquatic environmental conditions. It utilizes sensors and an Arduino microcontroller to collect data on pH, temperature, and turbidity in pond water in Jamalpur District, Bangladesh. The data is stored in an IoT cloud platform named ThingSpeak and analyzed using 10 machine learning algorithms. The dataset consists of 4 columns and 40,280 rows, where pH, temperature, turbidity, and fish are recorded...

Smallholder agriculture in Northwestern Ghana continues to suffer the increasing threats of climate change and variability. The extant literature has argued that climate-smart agriculture is the way forward for smallholder farmers to reduce the threats of climate change and variability in agriculture production. However, smallholder farmers continue to rely on indigenous knowledge and practices in their day-to-day agricultural activities. Few studies have explored the rationale and factors that explain smallholder farmers choice of local agriculture practices...

The concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) emerges from a requirement to come up with advanced solutions towards the intricate and combined objectives of enhancing crop yields, ameliorating resilience, and encouraging a low-emissions agricultural sector. This study examines how smallholder farmers are building their resilience to climate variability using CSA practices in the Bono East Region, Ghana. Specifically, the study sought to: (i) assess the trends of temperature and rainfall for the period 2011 to 2021; (ii) identify and rank CSA practices used by the smallholder farmers for resilience building in agricultural systems; and; (iii) determine the barriers militating against smallholder farmers' implementation of the prioritized CSA practices...

China has implemented policies like Leading areas for Agricultural Green Development (LAGD) to mitigate livestock and poultry farming pollution while promoting industry growth. However, it remains uncertain whether LAGDs have successfully balanced emission reduction with stable development. This study examines 165 LAGDs to analyze changes in emissions, assess the decoupling of emission reduction from output value, and identify influencing factors. Findings reveal that emissions from livestock and poultry in LAGDs initially increased and then decreased between 2010 and 2019...

Accurate identification of individual cattle is of paramount importance in precision livestock farming, enabling the monitoring of cattle behavior, disease prevention, and enhanced animal welfare. Unlike human faces, the faces of most Hanwoo cattle, a native breed of Korea, exhibit significant similarities and have the same body color, posing a substantial challenge in accurately distinguishing between individual cattle. In this study, we sought to extend the closed-set scope (only including identifying known individuals) to a more-adaptable open-set recognition scenario (identifying both known and unknown individuals) termed Cattle's Face Open-Set Recognition (CFOSR)...