Digital Agricultural Technologies Research Articles

Improving the Quality of Training of Engineering Personnel for the Agro-Industrial Complex

The article notes the need to improve the quality of engineering personnel training for the agricultural economy. This is due to the fact that the development of modern agricultural production and the sharply accelerated processes of developing and implementing innovative technologies in production against the background of increasing attention to digital technologies in agriculture require a radical modernization of the technical base of the agricultural sector of the economy. The article presents the concept of agricultural classes for young people in rural areas. This concept represents a positive experience of early involvement of young people in agricultural specialties and especially engineering personnel. A special feature of this approach is the involvement of specific agricultural producers, who are anchor employers in these territories, in the early career guidance of young people. The importance of agricultural classes is that already at school, the student can form his attitude to agriculture and by the time of graduation decided what profession and specialty he wants to master. The connection between school and university formed with the help of agricultural classes helps today's students to make a choice that will determine their future life. And its correctness depends not only on the future of one person, but also on the agriculture of the country as a whole. The article presents the experience of creating and operating agricultural classes created in the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia) by Kazan State Agrarian University, which can be replicated for other countries and will help reduce the negative trends of the shortage of qualified engineering personnel for agricultural production.

Conceptual model of an Agro-industrial Cyborg

The article researches agro-industrial complex as one of the key systems of civilizational development. In the context of ongoing digital transformation of the industry, the authors predict a radical introduction of digital technologies in agriculture, which will affect the very essence of the agricultural worker. The authors introduce the concept of "agrocyborg" - a conceptual model of an agricultural worker, which will as preserve traditional key social characteristics well acquire new demanded qualities. The article attempts to give philosophical and cultural understanding of the phenomenon of "agrocyborg" as a promising conceptual structure, valuable for understanding the future development of the agro-industrial complex, taking into account the development and implementation of digital technologies. As a result of research, the authors come to the conclusion that the concept of "agrocyborg" is not only a point of intersection of agricultural traditions and technological innovations, but a starting point for the development of technologies in agriculture for the benefit of human development.

ІННОВАЦІЙНІ ПІДХОДИ ДО МОТИВАЦІЇ ПЕРСОНАЛУ АГРАРНИХ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ В УМОВАХ ЦИФРОВІЗАЦІЇ

The article considers modern innovative approaches that are used by agricultural enterprises to motivate staff in modern business conditions. Most farmers understand the benefits of using digital technologies in agriculture. According to representative polls conducted by the Bitkom industry association in Berlin, almost 90 percent of all agricultural enterprises link digitization to more efficient use of resources. More than half of the companies surveyed already use digital applications, especially smart agricultural machinery and farm management software. The potential of the global market for digital products and business models is huge. The trend towards high-tech systems is growing rapidly. The main prerequisite for the transition to high-tech systems is the expansion of broadband, as well as Internet access. Digital applications and platforms can significantly change the way knowledge is processed, transmitted, accessed, and used. For farmers, digital programs provide decision-making opportunities that were previously impossible, which could potentially lead to drastic changes in personnel management. As the number of smart machines and sensor networks in enterprises grows, as data continues to grow, industrial relations become increasingly data-driven, raising critical questions about how digital agriculture will need new professionals, support decision-making, and interact with potential regimes, knowledge processing and potentially violate them. This has significant implications for the entire staff knowledge system, including the roles and capabilities of those who provide consulting services to farmers, as well as those responsible for data analysis, and the organizations and institutions that link and support their work. The realities of digitalization are such that in order to maintain their competitiveness in the labor market, a person must constantly learn, develop in various ways and acquire new skills. In the digital economy, competitive advantage will be given to those who are able to change quickly and adapt to dynamic living conditions and are able to think creatively and on a large scale. But in any case, the organization of the system of remuneration of personnel should be based on the predicted style of management, which involves the creation of flexible structures.

Agriculture 4.0: An Implementation Framework for Food Security Attainment in Nigeria’s Post-Covid-19 Era

The challenge of Nigeria’s food insecurity in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, insecurity, climate change, population growth, food wastage, etc., is a demanding task. This study addresses Nigeria’s food insecurity challenges by adopting agriculture 4.0 and commercial farming. Using data from six digital libraries, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, and other internet sources, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR using PRISMA) on Nigeria’s agriculture, food security, and agriculture 4.0. Our results show Nigeria’s current agricultural state, threats to food security, and modern digital agriculture technologies. We adapted our SLR findings to develop an implementation framework for agriculture 4.0 in solving Nigeria’s food insecurity challenge in the post-Covid-19 era. Our proposed framework integrates precision agriculture in Nigeria’s food production and the necessary enabling digital technologies in the agri-food supply chain. We analyzed the critical implementation considerations during each agri-food supply chain stage of farming inputs, farming scale, farming approach, farming operation, food processing, food preservation/storage, distribution/logistics, and the final consumers. This study will help researchers, investors, and the government address food security in Nigeria. The implementation of agriculture 4.0 will substantially contribute to SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) of #Envision 2030 of the United Nations, for the benefit of Nigeria, Africa, and the entire world.

Assessment of the Use of Geographically Weighted Regression for Analysis of Large On-Farm Experiments and Implications for Practical Application

On-farm experimentation (OFE) is a farmer-centric process that can enhance the adoption of digital agriculture technologies and improve farm profitability and sustainability. Farmers work with consultants or researchers to design and implement experiments using their own machinery to test management practices at the field or farm scale. Analysis of data from OFE is challenging because of the large spatial variation influenced by spatial autocorrelation that is not due to the treatment being tested and is often much larger than treatment effects. In addition, the relationship between treatment and yield response may also vary spatially. We investigate the use of geographically weighted regression (GWR) for analysis of data from large on-farm experiments. GWR estimates local regressions, where data are weighted by distance from the site using a distance-decay kernel. It is a simple approach that can be easily explained to farmers and their agronomic advisors. We use simulated data to test the ability of GWR to separate yield variation due to treatment from any underlying spatial variation in yield that is not due to treatment; show that GWR kernel bandwidth can be based on experimental design to accurately separate the underlying spatial variability from treatment effects; and demonstrate a step-wise model selection approach to determine when the response to treatment is global across the experiment or locally varying. We demonstrate our recommended approach on two large-scale experiments conducted on farms in Western Australia to investigate grain yield response to potassium fertiliser. We discuss the implications of our results for routine practical application to OFE and conclude that GWR has potential for wide application in a semi-automated manner to analyse OFE data, improve farm decision-making, and enhance the adoption of digital technologies.

A Study on Smart Farming Agriculture

There is a lot of literature on various forms of digitization in agriculture (big data, internet of things, augmented reality, robotics, sensors, 3D printing, computer integration, ubiquitous connectivity, artificial intelligence, digital twins and block chain among others), social science researchers have recently begun to explore various aspects of digital agriculture related to production systems, value Chains and food systems. This led to a growing but fragmented physical social science literature. So, no overview of how and about this field of study is growing. Where is it article purpose contribute this special issue seventeen articles then precision agriculture, digital agriculture, smart agriculture or the dynamics, economic and organizational issues of agriculture in society. According to an assessment of the literature, social science literature on the digitization of agriculture can be grouped into five themes: The adoption, use, and adaptation of digital technologies in agriculture; the effects of digitization on farmer identity, skill sets, and labor; the powerful, ethical, and private digitization of agricultural production systems and value chains; the adoption, use, and adaptation of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS); and the economics and management of digital agriculture production systems and value chains. Network of things a promising technology exists that offers effective and dependable solutions for upgrading numerous domains. Web based solutions are being created primarily to monitor and autonomously maintain agricultural farms with the least amount of human intervention. The article discusses a number of Internet of Things applications in agriculture. This explains it key elements are smart farming. It is only through information management that crops can be profitably converted modern agricultural advances are causing smart agriculture to expand tremendously and become a vital component, which will be important for producers' decision-making. Objective data collected by sensors with the intention of boosting productivity and sustainability yields significant advantages. This kind of data-based management farms can boost reliance on data by preventing resource. Given its enormous potential to help both producers, the push for the widespread use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the digitization of the agricultural industry is currently gathering speed. On the other hand, introducing technological solutions into rural settings presents a number of difficulties

Digital Transformation of the Agricultural Sector: Pathways, Drivers and Policy Implications

AbstractThe digital transformation of agriculture is enabling the collection of vast amounts of geo‐referenced information about growing conditions within the field and facilitating the automated implementation of spatially varying input applications. This has the potential to increase production efficiency, reduce overapplication of inputs, lower input waste and pollution, and improve farm profitability. We discuss the pathways by which digital agricultural technologies have the potential to affect crop management, and current trends and patterns of adoption of digital technologies. We provide insights from the technology adoption literature on the factors that can be expected to influence the adoption of emerging digital technologies and the findings from the empirical literature on the determinants of adoption of these types of technologies. We conclude with a discussion of the design of policy incentives to induce the adoption of digital technologies cost‐effectively, the challenges in implementing such policies and the opportunity that digital technologies offer for addressing these challenges.

ЦИФРЛЫҚ ТЕХНОЛОГИЯЛАР НЕГІЗІНДЕ АӨК ЖАҢҒЫРТУ

The key prerequisites for transition of domestic AIC to digital format of work are reflected. The vectors of influence of digital technologies on the development of agro-industrial complex are considered. Digital transformations in sectors of economy - first of all, the creation of a new industry by automating the country's transport and logistics system; the use of communication processes in agricultural sector, industry; e-commerce and improving systems for ensuring safety and availability of digital information, as well as implementation of these methods and techniques aimed to create "smart" cities. The authors note that digitalization is one of the most promising tools for achieving these goals. In addition, it should be understood that agribusiness in decision making is guided by such categories as increasing its profitability, expanding its market share, and increasing capitalization. In this direction, digitalization is one of the incentives for further development, because in competitive markets, any measures that can provide increase in profitability with acceptable level of predictable risk must be studied and implemented in practice. The features of effective digital technologies in agriculture of the republic are analyzed. Low productivity and high costs are highlighted as the key problems of domestic agricultural sector. The State policy of Kazakhstan is aimed at attracting the world's leading brands of agricultural machinery, produced using innovative nanotechnology, to the country, supporting local industries with objectively feasible localization conditions. It is concluded that it is necessary to use high-tech methods to solve the problems of increasing crop yields, animal productivity and labor productivity, and reducing production costs.

Searching for sustainability in the digital agriculture debate: an alternative approach for a systemic transition

One of the key challenges for agriculture today is feeding an increasing population without contributing to climate change. Increasingly, digital agriculture is discussed as a new sociotechnical regime that could help limit emissions for farmers worldwide. While sustainability is an important issue, recent papers in the field of digital agriculture do not address the problem directly. After a literature review, this paper will focus on the importance of shared perspectives as enablers in socio-technical transitions. This paper argues that the myth of the digital sublime could act in favour of the existing and unsustainable model of agriculture. This is partly a result of hardware production and connectivity already being resource-intensive. Precisely because of this high environmental impact, the following discussion will employ the legacy of the Green Revolution to highlight the importance of precaution in deploying digital agriculture. In theory, in order to address the shortcomings of the current system, private sector companies are developing proprietary software solutions that could in practice entrench unsustainable business models. As an alternative, this paper suggests, existing open-source platforms that encourage not-for-profit collaborations between farmers should be scaled up. Through bottom-up processes, future researchers and developers should seek ways to place sustainability at the centre of their analyses, and encourage the adoption of practices that can be tailored to the diverse needs of farmers. Ultimately, stakeholders in digital agriculture should understand that sustainability principles must be encoded at all stages in the deployment of digital agriculture technologies.

The future(s) of digital agriculture and sustainable food systems: An analysis of high-level policy documents

Ecosystem services delivery is influenced by food systems and vice versa. As the application of digital technologies in agriculture continues to expand, digital technologies might affect the delivery of ecosystem services in view of the sorts of food systems in which they are embedded. The direction food systems develop towards the future, and the role digital technologies play in this development, is influenced by imaginings, hopes and visions about what these technologies mean for future food systems. In this article, we investigate what roles are being imagined for these technologies by international actors with the ability to influence the future of food systems. We analyze outward-facing policy documents as well as conference proceedings on digital agriculture produced by the World Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Using qualitative textual analysis, we show that these organisations envision future food systems that prioritize maximizing food output through technology. We illustrate how this vision reflects a long-standing narrative about the role of technology in food systems innovation, which makes the controversial assumption that increases in food production lead to improvements in food security. Based on this finding, we suggest that evaluations of how digital agricultural technologies might affect the delivery of ecosystem services must begin by considering what visions of future food systems are take into account in science, technology development and policy making. Supporting similar research on high-level narratives surrounding agroecology and climate smart agriculture, we find that the dominant narrative in our dataset supports thestatus quoglobal, industrial agriculture and food system. This system continues to be criticized by many scholars for its environmental impacts. Based on our findings, we suggest that ecosystems service researchers could contribute substantially to the evaluation of environmental impacts of digital agriculture by analyzing the impact digital agriculture may have on the trade-offs between provisioning, regulatory, and cultural ecosystem services for several different food system futures. Such analyses can feed into processes of responsible innovation.

Urban Bites and Agrarian Bytes: Digital Agriculture and Extended Urbanization

Author(s): Ravis, Timothy; Notkin, Benjamin | Abstract: Capitalist agriculture faces a crisis. Plateauing yields and profits are driving up food prices, and the ability to continue the traditional practice of expanding into new, un-commodified territories appears to be waning. This crisis is due in large part to the accelerating biophysical contradictions of industrial agriculture, which systematically undermine the ecological conditions for its own success in pursuit of profit. We investigate how digital technologies are deployed as a potential data fix that does not solve the crisis but merely staves it off. We situate these technologies within the material context of capitalist urbanization, along the way arguing for bringing information back into the neo-Lefebvrian framework of “extended” or “planetary” urbanization. Digital agriculture technologies continue the centralization of economic knowledge and power as they facilitate the transformation of vast territories into “operational landscapes” that provide the material, energy, and labor for a rapidly expanding urban system.

Management of digital technologies development in agriculture of the Russian Federation

The article is devoted to managing the development of digital technologies in agriculture of the Russian Federation. The study analysed the current state of digitalization of agriculture, identified the main directions of development. During the work, factors and risks that impede the development of digital technologies in agriculture were identified, associated with the strong fragmentation of the Russian agricultural market, problems of confidentiality, security and regulation of data handling, and other factors. As a result of the study, a model for the interaction of smart agriculture objects in the Russian Federation was proposed, the implementation of which will provide a qualitative and quantitative transition to the use of digital technologies. The characteristic is given to the objects of smart agriculture in the Russian Federation in the framework of the interaction model and the indicators of digitalization of agriculture of the Russian Federation are determined. The study concludes with key findings and results.

ПРЕДВАРИТЕЛЬНЫЕ ИТОГИ ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИИ АГРАРНОЙ СФЕРЫ СИБИРИ

The article discusses the results of the digital technologies development in the pilot one and other agrarian regions of the Siberian Federal District. Individual farms and enterprises of the Altai Territory are mastering precision farming, using unmanned aerial vehicles, and performing remote interaction with government agencies. A large-scale work on the digitalization of information on agricultural land was carried out in the Kemerovo region, some of this data was provided to the Ministry of Agriculture for compiling electronic maps and the federal information system on agricultural land. Equipping the agricultural machines with digital systems allows the farmers of the Novosibirsk Region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory to rationalize the consumption of available resources and to increase the efficiency of agricultural production. The development of an electronic platform by Omsk scientists will make online sales of goods and services available to agricultural producers. Testing a combine harvester with artificial intelligence technology on agricultural land in the Tomsk region showed the capabilities of unmanned vehicle control. Despite the positive results of applying digital technologies in agriculture in Siberia, there are some difficulties for their widespread distribution. The greatest problems are associated with an undeveloped cellular network in certain territories, an imperfect infrastructure for high-speed data transmission, a lack of sufficient funds for small businesses, and a lack of qualified specialists.

Personnel aspect of the introduction of digital technologies in agriculture

The article attempts to analyze the use of digital technologies in agriculture from the point of view of the personnel aspect. Many experts point to the low cost of labor and the level of qualification of workers engaged in agricultural production as the main factors hindering their implementation. Therefore, on the path of digitalization of the agro-industrial complex, more attention should be paid to personnel policy issues, in particular, to the ongoing qualitative changes in the labor force used in the industry (in its professionalism, competence and motivation).

Развитие цифровой экономики в регионах Кыргызстана

The process of economic development of the regions of Kyrgyzstan with the help of digitalization is considered. It also analyzes the trend of development of digital technology and its impact on the national strategy. Normalization of the digital economy and its development is considered as the main tool in the Kyrgyz Republic. For the development of the economy of Kyrgyzstan, the main problems and the development of digital technologies are considered. In the framework of the program Taza Koom adopted in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2017, to ensure national security, as well as the development of the country, technologies affecting them were considered. For the development of the digital economy, digital technologies and major markets are considered as the main priority. Segments for the development of agriculture in Kyrgyzstan with the help of digital technologies are proposed. And also (factors) the use of digital technologies in agriculture, its role in the regions, goals and advantages are reflected in this article. The paper discusses the use of digitalization processes of the economy at the regional level. The analysis of global trends in the development of digital technologies in the agricultural sector and their impact on regional development strategies is carried out. The features of the formation of the digital economy in the regions of the Kyrgyz Republic are determined. The problems and promising areas of testing digital technologies in the development of the economy of the Kyrgyz Republic are identified. The possibilities of transforming the economy of the regions in the context of digitalization are considered. The analysis of existing approaches to the formation of regional digital development programs and the practice of their application is carried out. A number of methodological problems were identified and the author’s vision of the process of formation of digital transformation programs for the region was proposed. The main directions of agricultural development in the regions are formulated taking into account digitalization.

Bibliography

Bibliography

The sources of power on TEG basis for digital technologies of agriculture

The paper presents scientific and technical solutions to improve the efficiency of decentralized power supply systems for consumers that implement digital technologies in agriculture. The author’s technology is described, which makes it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of TEG in an extended temperature range, as well as to study the modes of their operation with electric load. The results are given that determine the rational temperature range for hot junction 160 … 200 °C, for cold - 30 … 50 °C. The dependence of the output power on the load current, described by a polynomial of the second degree, is obtained. The regularities of the influence of the load on TEG efficiency are determined. Based on the obtained experimental data, a power source circuit based on a heating device with TEG was developed.

Methodology for the Impact Assessment of the Digital Economy on Agriculture Development

The impact of the digital economy on the development of the agricultural sector was investigated, using the method of analyzing the functioning environment. It was revealed that the current state of the agricultural sector in Ukraine does not significantly depend on the influence and provision of the digital economy. It is proposed to carry out the development of the agro-industrial complex based on priorities for achieving the technical efficiency of economic activities related to the manufacture of computers, electronic and optical products. An assessment of the development of the digital economy in the context of the state of the types of economic activity in agriculture the features of the backlog were revealed and the prospects for the development of agricultural activities through a fundamental reorganization of the economy by developing the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical production were evaluated. The need of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine for modern information developments that will increase the volume of sales and reduce production and personnel costs is substantiated. Research indicate the necessity for further adjustments to the line of technical efficiency by the method of analyzing the functioning environment in order to develop digital technologies in agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

Digitization of marketing activities of agricultural entrepreneurship in the conditions of the Kyrgyz Republic

The problems associated with the current trend in the consumption of natural food products, the sale of manufactured products, increasing the competitiveness of domestic products, foreign product intervention, ensuring the institutionalization of Internet commerce by the state are discussed in the article. The analysis carried out features of the introduction and development of efficient, digital technologies in agriculture. Also, promising areas of digitalization of the agro-industrial complex are highlighted by the authors. It was recommended to entrepreneurs to create such sites, the effectiveness of which reached the audience at an appropriate level, the volume of orders was maximum, which ultimately would increase profits and strengthen market position.

Strategic Directions for the Rural Territories Development of Agricultural Specialization (on the Example of the Altai Territory)

The role of the municipal level in the country’s governance system is underestimated. Most of the rural areas are located far from the centers of socio-economic development with no ability for independent budget formation and the management of rural areas is carried out by untrained personnel. The Altai region has the largest number of rural municipalities and has agricultural specialization, so the subject of the article is the problems of rural areas’ development of agricultural specialization at the managerial level. The purpose of the study is to identify and substantiate the most important elements of rural areas to highlight it as an object of strategic planning. The directions and mechanisms of interaction should be taken into account in the complex programs of socio-economic development of rural areas, such approaches will attract investments to the territory, ensure the creation of new jobs and reduce the outflow of population to cities. The Altai territory is one of the pilot regions, where the use of digital technologies in agriculture is actively introduced, which emphasizes the importance of effective development of the region.