The adoption of emerging agricultural technology could help to respond to future trends and catalyse the transformational change needed in the agricultural sector, in terms of profitability, sustainability and productivity.

Supporting transformational change in agriculture requires both the creative combination of multiple technologies and provision of institutional, regulatory and communications infrastructure to enable collaboration and innovation. Agriculture industries must work together as a cohesive sector to determine how best to capture and integrate provenance, production and environmental information to enhance product value and enable diversification, taking into account trends in consumer values and preferences.

The report examines the impacts of nine technologies on the agriculture sector. These technologies include sensors, internet of things, robotics, machine learning, large scale optimisation and data fusion, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and distributed ledger technology. These technologies present opportunities to improve the efficiency and profitability of agricultural production, to develop novel agricultural industries and markets, and to contribute to a range of social and environmental values.