How digital twins are transforming controlled environment agriculture to address food insecurity
As the world grapples with the challenges of climate change, overpopulation, and increasing food insecurity, traditional agricultural practices are proving to be unsustainable. Even economically affluent countries like Canada are facing a worsening household food insecurity crisis. To address these pressing issues, agriculture companies are turning to innovative solutions like controlled environment agriculture (CEA). However, the complexity of CEA requires computer-aided support to optimize growth strategies and reduce energy consumption. This is where digital twins, high-fidelity simulations of physical systems, come into play. Developed by McMaster University’s Sustainable Systems and Methods (SSM) lab, digital twins offer a promising solution for revolutionizing agriculture and ensuring food security.
The Potential of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)
CEA involves growing crops in isolated environments, controlled by complex machinery and sensor systems. Automation in CEA enables better yields and quality compared to traditional farming methods while minimizing waste. However, optimizing growth strategies in these controlled environments is a significant challenge due to increased complexity and the need for precise environmental control.
The Role of Digital Twins in CEA
Digital twins, which are digital representations of physical objects or processes, play a crucial role in CEA. These twins provide real-time simulations of the physical system, aiding decision-making and control. In precision agriculture, digital twins are used to monitor and control environmental conditions to stimulate optimal and sustainable crop growth. They offer live dashboards to observe growing area conditions and can even autonomously control the environment.
Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
Reducing energy consumption is a vital goal in precision agriculture, as heating and cooling facilities require significant energy. Digital twins can help optimize the crop-to-energy ratio by monitoring and controlling environmental conditions more efficiently. Moreover, digital twins can be used in the design of new greenhouses, leveraging data collected over time to inform experimentation and improve sustainability.
Economic Feasibility and Challenges
The adoption of digitally enhanced CEA faces challenges related to cost and digital maturity. Developing digital twins and improving digital maturity in farming companies are major cost drivers. Hardware and software development costs are associated with digital twin development, while organizational costs are incurred in establishing a data strategy and acquiring software licenses. Digital maturity is crucial but often overshadowed by technical costs in smart agriculture. Industry-grade subsystems and careful organizational planning are necessary for successful implementation.
Collaborations and Future Prospects
The digitalization of agriculture is still in its early stages, but recent success stories highlight the potential of industrial-academic collaborations in shaping ongoing digitalization efforts. As the world strives to achieve the United Nations’ sustainable development goal of eradicating global hunger by 2030, a paradigm shift in agriculture is necessary. Advanced digitalization and the widespread adoption of digital twins offer a promising path towards achieving food security and sustainable production. With the decreasing costs of hardware and computing power, digitally driven smart agriculture is becoming increasingly feasible.
Conclusion:
Digital twins are revolutionizing agriculture by enabling precise control and optimization of environmental conditions in controlled environment agriculture. As the world faces the urgent need for food security and sustainable production, digital twins offer a powerful solution to address these challenges. While there are obstacles to overcome, the decreasing costs of technology make digitally driven smart agriculture a reality. By embracing advanced digitalization and leveraging the potential of digital twins, the agricultural industry can pave the way towards a future of food security and sustainability.
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