Title: Evolving innovations in advanced technology in aquaculture and agriculture

Biography:

Peter Appleton is Project Manager of an advanced technology project in agriculture, aquaculture utilizing advanced water technologies which increase production of agriculture and aquaculture by 36% - 40% eliminate pesticides and decrease need for fertilizers and improve greatly profits of large and smallholders, particularly of high value export crops. Internationally, he has worked in over 80 countries for agencies and foundations as a consultant, and in leading major projects as Chief of Party.

Research Interest

Advanced Agricultural Marketing, Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Marketing

Abstract

The world will need 50 percent more food by 2050.

Unless change occurs in food consumption and production patterns

• Is a scenario where population growth outpaces the growth in food supply resulting in large-scale famines becoming increasingly likely?

Preventing this may very well be one of the most important challenges of the 21st century.

Despite being ranked near the bottom in industry surveys on the state of digitization, Agriculture and Aquaculture are rapidly becoming more digital.  Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Growth Technologies are converging to answer these serious challenges and transform food production.   Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and Automation are changing the landscape of production and distribution in Agriculture and Aquaculture.   

With this transition, farm data is becoming both richer and more robust. The availability of this data is paving the way to develop and deploy AI in Agriculture and Aquaculture. To date, AI  has mostly been led by the big tech giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon as they look to gain access to capabilities to help transform industries as diverse as transportation, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. Are Agriculture and Aquaculture next in this transformation?

Innovators can now change the world of agriculture and aquaculture, much like Norman Borlaug, the father of the green revolution and Nobel Prize winner in 1970 who "more than any other single person of this age, helped provide bread for a hungry world.”  Like Borlaug, today’s innovators have access to the tools of plant and animal genetics, chemistry, agronomics, and machinery. But, more importantly, they have access to new tools – Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and other Advanced Technologies.