Characterising the Agriculture 4.0 Landscape—Emerging Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

Investment in technological research is imperative to stimulate the development of sustainable solutions for the agricultural sector. Advances in Internet of Things, sensors and sensor networks, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, etc. foster the transition towards the Agri...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sara Oleiro Araújo, Ricardo Silva Peres, José Barata, Fernando Lidon, José Cochicho Ramalho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
Series:Agronomy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/4/667
Description
Summary:Investment in technological research is imperative to stimulate the development of sustainable solutions for the agricultural sector. Advances in Internet of Things, sensors and sensor networks, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, etc. foster the transition towards the Agriculture 4.0 era. This fourth revolution is currently seen as a possible solution for improving agricultural growth, ensuring the future needs of the global population in a fair, resilient and sustainable way. In this context, this article aims at characterising the current Agriculture 4.0 landscape. Emerging trends were compiled using a semi-automated process by analysing relevant scientific publications published in the past ten years. Subsequently, a literature review focusing these trends was conducted, with a particular emphasis on their applications in real environments. From the results of the study, some challenges are discussed, as well as opportunities for future research. Finally, a high-level cloud-based IoT architecture is presented, serving as foundation for designing future smart agricultural systems. It is expected that this work will positively impact the research around Agriculture 4.0 systems, providing a clear characterisation of the concept along with guidelines to assist the actors in a successful transition towards the digitalisation of the sector.
ISSN:2073-4395