LEVERAGING AGRICULTURAL AUTOMATION RESPONSIBLY FOR EFFICIENT, PRODUCTIVE, SUSTAINABLE, RESILIENT AND INCLUSIVE AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS
This year the 2022 edition of The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) looks into the drivers, key barriers and opportunities of agricultural automation, including the more recent digital technologies. Based on 27 case studies, the report analyses the business case for adoption of digital automation technologies in different agricultural production systems across the world.
Giving insightful policies suggestion on how to ensure a “responsible” agricultural automation, that is inclusive, suitable and available for all categories of producers.
“Any technology that automates at least one of the three phases may be classified as an automation technology. Motorized mechanization using engine power15 focuses essentially on the last of the three phases: performing. It automates agricultural operations such as ploughing, seeding, fertilizing, milking, feeding, harvesting and irrigating, among many others.”
“To be responsible, agricultural automation must be flexible, farmer-centred, demand-driven, respectful of data privacy and cultural diversity, participatory and inclusive in design, and transparent. It must recognize the importance of context and tailor technologies to local needs by involving local actors and building on their adaptive innovation capacity.”
