The rapid evolution of technology, robotics and artificial intelligence has brought continuous and dramatic change to every industry — including, and perhaps particularly, agriculture. To discuss the growing role of AI across agriculture and the fresh produce industry, The Packer sat down with Rizwan Butt, vice president of product management for iTradeNetwork, in a fireside chat webinar on May 14.
“Imagine a future where we are literally farming without farmers,” Butt said. “And that may sound scary and anxiety-inducing for a lot of people, but … the question we have to ask ourselves is: Are we of those who are going to embrace these realities and adjust and adapt to them, or are we going to be apprehensive about them and try to avoid them for as long as possible?”
Agriculture is already employing robotics to aid in everything from planting to crop protection to harvesting to selecting for quality and much more, Butt said.
“This is not some scientific sci-fi future. This is a reality today that’s being done either in labs or in experiments or actually being deployed in the real world,” he said. “So, there is going to be a point in time where we have to accept the fact that there are going to be machines and AI tools that are going to augment what we do as human beings and make that job much more productive, much safer and much more optimized.”
As demands on the global food supply are expected to increase by 40% to 70%, while at the same time the labor pool continues to shrink, the need for AI in agriculture is real and the time is now.
For more on how AI is helping agricultural supply chains evolve from reactive to predictive as well as how retailers and growers can now anticipate disruptions — whether from weather, demand shifts or logistics breakdowns — and adapt proactively, watch the webinar now.
Watch on demand: Register here to download and watch the webinar
