3. Agriculture.Pdf

Home , Precision agriculture

Agriculture Synthetic Biology, 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Watch Closely Informs Strategy Act Now Biotech and Agriculture

6TH YEAR ON THE LIST AgTech

KEY INSIGHT EXAMPLES DISRUPTIVE IMPACT EMERGING PLAYERS If you’re a human who eats food, you Our existing global food system is a • Azure FarmBeats significant driver of climate change. The By 2050, we must in- should care deeply about the global food • John Deere crease agriculture supply. With our global weather patterns food system is also vulnerable to climate and climates in flux, it’s plausible that the change’s effects. We’re facing a long-term • Plantix production by 70% to world’s current agricultural centers won’t existential risk in the global food supply, • Higher Steaks meet projected global sustain commercial farms in the near but we’re also seeing tremendous new research and opportunity in agtech. • Artemys Foods demand for food. Tradi- future. Today’s agriculture system alone won’t work. The availability of sensors, • Earthpac tional farming methods new types of irrigation, improved light- • Infarm won’t cut it. That short- ing, and more efficient ways to capture and process data promise to modernize fall has spawned a new and decentralize the agricultural sector. generation of agriculture technology startups. Dozens of startup accelerators have popped up, and big tech firms such as Microsoft and Amazon have built Emerging technologies will transform agriculture. new businesses to support high-tech farms.

AgTech Trends

Precision Agriculture Deep Learning for Food testing the technology on two of its U.S. Precision agriculture promises to in- Recognition farms as part of a multiyear plan to mod- crease crop yields and profitability, while Agricultural companies, farmers, and ernize agriculture with data analytics. reducing the costs of watering, fertiliz- food manufacturers could benefit from The system uses unlicensed, long-range ing, and treating crops for pests. Using deep learning for food recognition. Plan- TV white space spectrum to connect and sensors, algorithms, and optimization tix, a cloud-based AI system, identifies capture data from solar-powered sensors, analytics, farmers can now quantify the pests and disease in crops when a farmer while drones gather aerial footage of progress of every single crop—down to a uploads photos of suspicious plants. crops. Machine learning algorithms mine single cherry tomato hanging on a par- Using image recognition, the system and refine the data, before sending anal- ticular vine. Modern agriculture relies on cross-references a database of various yses back to farmers with recommenda- efficient management and accurate pre- species to offer assessments of potential tions on how to tweak their resource use. dictions. University of Illinois research- problems—such as lack of water or mi- This kind of cloud analytics is drawing ers combined seasonal climate data and cronutrients. Automated picking systems investment and R&D, and spawning satellite images with the U.S. Department by Abundant Robotics and FFRobotics startups. Consolidation may be on the of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Sup- scan and “read” produce to determine near horizon. ply and Demand Estimates to build new ripeness. Dairy farms can monitor milk prediction models to help farmers predict quality with SomaDetect’s optical sensors Vertical Farming Grows Up crop yields in advance of environmental and machine learning system. Blue River Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and SoftBank’s factors. South Dakota State University Technology uses deep learning to auto- CEO Masayoshi Son (until April 2021) invested $46 million in a precision agri- matically detect and spray weeds. have both invested in vertical farming, culture facility and will unveil precision a burgeoning industry in which crops ag courses this year. In the near future, Agricultural Clouds are grown in stacked layers inside of expect drones with smart cameras, data Microsoft launched FarmBeats, a sort climate-controlled environments. In Microsoft’s FarmBeats brings AI to farmers around the world. mining to decipher crop blossoming and of Internet of Things for farms, on its the past, the expense of robots, artificial ripeness, and new analytics dashboards to light, and other equipment made ver- help farmers make smarter decisions. Azure marketplace. The company is

AgTech Trends

tical farms difficult to scale. But that’s 200 plant factories are subsidized by the indoor food production. Using complex it is key to lab-grown meat substitutes. changing as the ecosystem matures and government, but they thrive thanks to algorithms and sensors attached to plants Many U.S. grocery stores and the Mexi- technology improves. Today, thanks to Japanese consumer demand for fresh, inside hydroponic systems, the research- can restaurant chain Chipotle sell Impos- brighter, cheaper LED light bulbs, cloud- local, pesticide-free food. Near Kyoto, ers track carbon dioxide, temperature, sible meat, a beef substitute made from based AI systems, and more available the Kansai Science City microfarm uses water, plant tissue health, and more. genetically-modified yeast. Memphis agricultural sensors, vertical farms can artificial intelligence and collaborative They analyze the data and optimize for Meats, Beyond Meat, and Aleph Farms now cultivate lettuce, spinach, basil, gar- robots to raise seedlings, replant them, growing the most nutritious, tastiest use pea protein and other plant material lic, and snow peas. They tend to deliver water them, adjust their lighting, and foods possible. to create approximations of chicken and 10 to 20 times the total yield of conven- harvest fresh produce. In nearby Kameo- beef. Eclipse Foods makes a plant-based tional farms with far less waste. Vertical ka, Spread uses machines and robots to CRISPR Crops dairy ice cream base. New Wave Foods farming projects now scatter the globe, cultivate plants that produce 20,000 to makes algae-based shrimp, and Finless settling mostly in urban centers such as 30,000 lettuce heads per day. Plants ma- The gene-editing tool CRISPR prom- Foods makes fish flesh. The clean meat Baltimore and Chicago. ture in just 40 days before being shipped ises to enhance the nutritional value of movement is heading towards acellular In Japan, vertical indoor farming is becoming to nearby Japanese supermarkets. In produce, increase crop yields, and extend agriculture, which doesn’t require starter more widespread. freshness. CRISPR has increased the Indoor Plant Factories California, Iron Ox’s fully autonomous, cells extracted from muscle biopsies. hydroponic indoor farm uses two robots level of omega-3s in plants and aided French lawmakers banned vegetarian Many countries lack the land mass or to plant, maintain, and harvest produce. the creation of non-browning apples, companies from calling their products infrastructure to grow high-quality In just a single indoor, automated acre, drought-resistant rice, and mushrooms “bacon” and “sausage.” In 2018, the U.S. produce, so they’re bringing traditional those two bots can produce the equiva- that can withstand jostling during trans- beef industry filed a petition to bar agriculture indoors and underground, lent of 30 acres of outdoor farming. portation. (In most markets, product nonanimal products from the definition using high-tech robotics, irrigation, and labels identify such products as genetical- of meat. Plant-based meat sales have lighting systems to cultivate food. In the ly modified.) Big Ag Data eclipsed $1 billion annually. In the future, U.S., 80 Acres Farms is building a fully you may buy meat at a local microbrew- automated indoor farm, nearly the size of Researchers at the Massachusetts Insti- Cellular Agriculture ery that “brews” meat instead of beer. two football fields, just outside of Cincin- tute of Technology now crunch data to nati. Japan has emerged as a world leader come up with “plant recipes” to improve Cellular agriculture refers to agricultural in indoor farming. Many of the country’s products produced by cell cultures, and

AgTech Trends

Hybrid Animal-Plant Meats isn’t a worldwide phenomenon. That and edible packaging, and packaging that ings and scientists at Arizona State Uni- Off-Planet Terraforming The cost of lab-grown meat still remains could change. The environmentalist case “eats” itself after it is no longer needed. versity manufacture artificial trees that Terraforming—literally, “earth shap- expensive. This year, we expect more for eating crickets rather than chickens University of Minnesota researchers are can absorb carbon dioxide. The “leaves” ing”—is a concept from science fiction in new cultured-meat alternatives, made by holds that raising and consuming insects developing polymers that self-destruct or are plastic-like discs that absorb CO2 in which people re-form another planet to mixing cultured beef cells and plant pro- produces significantly lower greenhouse “unzip” when exposed to light, heat, or the air and wind. When filled, the leaves resemble Earth and support human life. teins. The Artemys Burger is a hybrid, gas emissions, doesn’t require extensive acid. Saltwater Brewery designed biode- drop down into the “trunk” and onward But as humans begin serious off-planet meant to reduce the costs of cultured land and water, and inflicts less long- gradable and edible plastic rings for six- into pipes that collect the liquid CO2 for exploration (see: Space and Off-Planet products and attract more consumers. term damage to the planet. Moreover, packs of beer—so sea turtles can eat them resale to beverage companies. Columbia Trends), we must develop new agri- bugs contain plenty of protein, fatty rather than get tangled in them. Infarm University has a similar project in the cultural techniques suitable for space. Higher Steaks, a U.K. startup, is devel- acids, and fiber. Only a few years ago, created a renewable plastic that folds works. Another approach is to convert oping blended pork products, including Our current microbes may be key to insect cultivation remained the domain around objects. It uses seaweed-based atmospheric CO2 into carbon nanofi- terraforming, because they can survive bacon, which includes 70% cultured of small, experimental startups. Recently, agar-agar gel to grow microgreens and bers for use in consumer and industrial pork cells mixed with plant proteins. such harsh environments as the Atacama though, the USDA awarded $1.45 million herbs that don’t need water. Earthpac, products, such as wind turbine blades or Desert. Of course, we may invent entire- This year, KFC will begin selling hybrid in research grants for bug proteins, and meanwhile, makes biodegradable cutlery airplanes. Chemists at George Washing- chicken nuggets, made of 20% cultured ly new life forms using synthetic biolo- now the North American Coalition for and trays from starch derived from pota- ton University are experimenting with gy. To advance from theory to reality, chicken cells and 80% plants. Clara Foods Insect Agriculture estimates the market to processing wastewater. what they call “diamonds from the sky”— serves creamy, lab-grown eggs, fish that terraforming requires a host of robots to could top $1 billion by 2023. because diamonds are made from carbon. mine for resources and build an ecosys- never swam in water, and cow’s milk The scientists bathe carbon dioxide in brewed from yeast. Perfect Day makes Artificial Trees tem capable of sustaining human life, as Intelligent Packaging molten carbonates at 750 degrees Cel- well as hybrid-skilled researchers with lab-grown yogurt, cheese, and ice cream. Carbon dioxide is the undisputed culprit sius, then introduce atmospheric air and Smart packaging will drive agricultural when it comes to climate change. But backgrounds in biology, botany, agricul- an electrical current on nickel and steel ture, robotics, and physics. Insect Agriculture and Bug advances and investment. The nascent what if we could just suck it out of the electrodes. The carbon dioxide dissolves, Proteins market is growing and includes such air? Trees do that naturally, but with de- and carbon nanofibers form on the steel tech as QR codes for moisture-control forestation, there’s not enough to make a electrode. In some cultures, people eat bugs as part and temperature sensors, antimicrobial sizable impact. Silicon Kingdom Hold- of their daily diets, but bug-based cuisine

Emailing Apples to Space

Far-future optimistic scenario The first colonists to arrive on Mars bring a mixed payload of seedlings, mature plants, and special printers designed to extrude DNA from code. A team of expat astrobiologists and engineers collaborate with researchers back on Earth to test off-planet terraforming. Just like in the early days of the world wide web, when disparate groups of academics sent data around the world using a nascent internet, these researchers use an interplanetary communications system to send and retrieve biological data. Rather than sending an apple tree to space, Earthers send the DNA to new Martians for tweaking and print- ing. Exotic Martian agriculture is sent back to Earth for experimentation and enjoyment.