Food
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has an impact on how agriculture is conducted and on food consumption in the AgroFood sector. The digitization of food production, trade, and consumption offers opportunities to use AI for more efficient and sustainable food systems.
The Dutch AgroFood sector is not only internationally oriented but also a world leader in digitization. The production, trade, and logistics of agricultural products such as flowers, vegetables, and seeds are of the highest level, partly due to digitization. Digitization is already a very important part of the infrastructure that enables innovation in the AgroFood sector.
In greenhouse horticulture, more and more human tasks are being replaced by robots, which are becoming increasingly smarter through AI. The expectation is that greenhouses will eventually produce food and ornamental plants fully autonomously. In arable farming and livestock farming, AI is becoming increasingly important for providing decision-supporting advice: How can I apply crop protection as optimally as possible? Can I administer less preventive medication to livestock with good animal care? These questions are increasingly being answered with AI technology.
In food production and consumption, AI is a promising technology that can be used to prevent, for example, food allergies or eating disorders (obesity). With AI, the diet is better tailored to the individual characteristics of the consumer, and healthcare costs can be reduced.
These opportunities to apply AI also bring societal challenges. Think about the protection of consumer privacy and the shift in employment. (Source: https://nlaic.com)
Food in Eastern Netherlands
In Eastern Netherlands, companies, knowledge institutions, and governments are working together on innovations in sustainable food to achieve climate goals and feed the growing world population.
Together with entrepreneurs in Gelderland and Overijssel, we build projects around themes such as Smart Farming, Food Processing, Agrifood Robotics, and (safe) data sharing.
For the domain of Agriculture, Food & AI, we collaborate with Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen Data Science Center (WDSC), One Planet Research Center, University of Twente, StartLife, Foodvalley NL, and Innofood. Interesting field labs in this area include: Agro-innovation center De Marke (Zelhem), Soil Valley (Giesbeek), Fruittech Campus (Geldermalsen)
