Digital Twinning of Hydroponic Grow Beds in Intelligent Aquaponic Systems

The use of automation, Internet-of-Things (IoT), and smart technologies is being rapidly introduced into the development of agriculture. Technologies such as sensing, remote monitoring, and predictive tools have been used with the purpose of enhancing agriculture processes, aquaponics among them, and improving the quality of the products. Digital twinning enables the testing and implementing of improvements in the physical component through the implementation of computational tools in a ‘twin’ virtual environment. This paper presents a framework for the development of a digital twin for an aquaponic system. This framework is validated by developing a digital twin for the grow beds of an aquaponics system for real-time monitoring parameters, namely pH, electroconductivity, water temperature, relative humidity, air temperature, and light intensity, and supports the use of artificial intelligent techniques to, for example, predict the growth rate and fresh weight of the growing crops. The digital twin presented is based on IoT technology, databases, a centralized control of the system, and a virtual interface that allows users to have feedback control of the system while visualizing the state of the aquaponic system in real time

The digitization of agricultural industry – a systematic literature review on agriculture 4.0

Agriculture is considered one of the most important sectors that play a strategic role in ensuring food security. However, with the increasing world's population, agri-food demands are growing — posing the need to switch from traditional agricultural methods to smart agriculture practices, also known as agriculture 4.0. To fully benefit from the potential of agriculture 4.0, it is significant to understand and address the problems and challenges associated with it. This study, therefore, aims to contribute to the development of agriculture 4.0 by investigating the emerging trends of digital technologies in the agricultural industry. For this purpose, a systematic literature review based on Protocol of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses is conducted to analyse the scientific literature related to crop farming published in the last decade. After applying the protocol, 148 papers were selected and the extent of digital technologies adoption in agriculture was examined in the context of service type, technology readiness level, and farm type. The results have shown that digital technologies such as autonomous robotic systems, internet of things, and machine learning are significantly explored and open-air farms are frequently considered in research studies (69%), contrary to indoor farms (31%). Moreover, it is observed that most use cases are still in the prototypical phase. Finally, potential roadblocks to the digitization of the agriculture sector were identified and classified at technical and socio-economic levels. This comprehensive review results in providing useful information on the current status of digital technologies in agriculture along with prospective future opportunities