During the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic era, the behaviors and patterns of agricultural production have changed enormously. Labor shortages and supply chain disruption caused trouble to agricultural operations. Furthermore, how the tasks of smart agriculture affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is of concern. For example, the fragility of food supply chain has increased, thus leading each country to re-emphasize food security and strive to increase domestic food production. In order to solve labor shortages, more automation technologies will be introduced into the production system. The business model of "remote behavior" and "home economy" has emerged. Also, the traditional offline businesses will gradually be replaced by novel online ones. Consumers began to pay attention to local and healthy foods, and were expecting more on food safety and traceability. Each country continues to promote policies on increasing the adoption of smart technology in the agricultural industry. According to the trends and issues of post-pandemic era, smart technologies might be appropriate solutions for transforming agricultural industry. Agriculture in Taiwan is small-scale farming, especially traditional labor-based farming. If production management and trade of produce can be supplemented by low-cost and labor-saving machinery, auxiliary equipment and sensing components, together with the introduction of advanced technologies such as ICT, IoT, Big Data, and Block Chain, the goals of reducing the burden of farming and labor demand, providing farmers with a more efficient farming management model, and alleviating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could be realized. Hence, the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) committed to create advanced technologies and solutions to assist agricultural transformation. Now experts in smart agriculture have already had some preliminary results. Smart technologies for remote monitoring and introduction of automation and robots can solve labor shortage, such as disinfection drones and automatic grass pushing and delivering robot. The adoption of innovative digital technology for remote consultation and diagnosis can reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Using artificial intelligence to develop agricultural digital twins is helpful for developing smarter post-pandemic agriculture. The protected agriculture technology for urban agriculture and greenhouse vertical farming can increase food supply. New food traceability systems using smart technology, such as "Agricultural Food Calendar" system and "i-PLANT" agricultural farm management system can strengthen food safety control and improve consumer confidence. In summary, the pandemic is undoubtedly an unexpected catalyst for accelerating the intellectualization and digitalization of agriculture. In the years to come, there will be a vision for experts of all fields to work together to turn the crisis into a turning point for upgrading agriculture.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, post-pandemic era, smart agriculture, smart technology, labor shortage, food security
During the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic era, the behaviors and patterns of agricultural production have changed enormously. Labor shortages and supply chain disruption caused trouble to agricultural operations. Furthermore, how the tasks of smart agriculture affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is of concern. For example, the fragility of food supply chain has increased, thus leading each country to re-emphasize food security and strive to increase domestic food production. In order to solve labor shortages, more automation technologies will be introduced into the production system. The business model of "remote behavior" and "home economy" has emerged. Also, the traditional offline businesses will gradually be replaced by novel online ones. Consumers began to pay attention to local and healthy foods, and were expecting more on food safety and traceability. Each country continues to promote policies on increasing the adoption of smart technology in the agricultural industry. According to the trends and issues of post-pandemic era, smart technologies might be appropriate solutions for transforming agricultural industry. Agriculture in Taiwan is small-scale farming, especially traditional labor-based farming. If production management and trade of produce can be supplemented by low-cost and labor-saving machinery, auxiliary equipment and sensing components, together with the introduction of advanced technologies such as ICT, IoT, Big Data, and Block Chain, the goals of reducing the burden of farming and labor demand, providing farmers with a more efficient farming management model, and alleviating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could be realized. Hence, the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) committed to create advanced technologies and solutions to assist agricultural transformation. Now experts in smart agriculture have already had some preliminary results. Smart technologies for remote monitoring and introduction of automation and robots can solve labor shortage, such as disinfection drones and automatic grass pushing and delivering robot. The adoption of innovative digital technology for remote consultation and diagnosis can reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Using artificial intelligence to develop agricultural digital twins is helpful for developing smarter post-pandemic agriculture. The protected agriculture technology for urban agriculture and greenhouse vertical farming can increase food supply. New food traceability systems using smart technology, such as "Agricultural Food Calendar" system and "i-PLANT" agricultural farm management system can strengthen food safety control and improve consumer confidence. In summary, the pandemic is undoubtedly an unexpected catalyst for accelerating the intellectualization and digitalization of agriculture. In the years to come, there will be a vision for experts of all fields to work together to turn the crisis into a turning point for upgrading agriculture.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, post-pandemic era, smart agriculture, smart technology, labor shortage, food security