Browsing by Author "Carmona-Torres, Carmen"

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    Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: recent applications and future outlook
    (Elsevier, 2025-03-31) Parra-López, Carlos; Ben Abdallah, Saker; García García, Guillermo; Hassoun, Abdo; Trollman, Hana; Jagtap, Sandeep; Gupta, Sumit; Aït-Kaddour, Abderrahmane; Makmuang, Sureerat; Carmona-Torres, Carmen
    This article provides a comprehensive overview of digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture, examining recent applications and future prospects. It examines key water-related challenges - scarcity, pollution, inefficient use and climate change - and shows how various digital technologies such as Remote Sensing, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Big Data, Robotics, Smart Sensors and Blockchain can help address them. The review finds that these technologies offer significant potential for improving water management practices, with Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence emerging as the most versatile and widely adopted. Efficient irrigation strategies appear to be the most common application across technologies. Digital solutions significantly reduce water wastage, help identify pollution hotspots, and improve overall water resource management. For example, remote sensing-based approaches (e.g. UAV-mounted multispectral cameras) can accurately monitor soil moisture to optimise irrigation scheduling, while AI-driven models (e.g. random forest or neural networks) can predict groundwater recharge or forecast rainfall events. However, several barriers to widespread adoption are identified, including high implementation costs, lack of technical expertise, data management challenges, and infrastructure and connectivity constraints. The study concludes by suggesting priorities for future research and development, highlighting the need for integrated technological solutions, improved accessibility and affordability, improved efficiency and sustainability, improved water quality, enhanced data management capabilities, and strategies to address emerging concerns such as cybersecurity and the environmental impact of digital technologies themselves. This review aims to inform future research, policy and practice in agricultural water management and support the development of more productive, resilient and sustainable agricultural systems.
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    Food loss and waste reduction by using Industry 4.0 technologies: examples of promising strategies
    (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2025-01-06) Arshad, Rai Naveed; Abdul-Malek, Zulkurnain; Parra-López, Carlos; Hassoun, Abdo; Qureshi, Muhammad Imran; Sultan, Aysha; Carmona-Torres, Carmen; de Waal, Jennifer Mignonne; Jagtap, Sandeep; Garcia-Garcia, Guillermo
    Food loss and waste (FLW) represent a significant global issue, posing a threat to food sustainability on a worldwide scale. However, the growing awareness among consumers and the development of emerging technologies driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) present numerous opportunities to reduce FLW. This article provides a comprehensive examination of recently developed strategies for reducing FLW. The role of Industry 4.0 technologies, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, and big data, is highlighted through examples of various promising initiatives. The results of this analysis show that the application of digital technologies to address the issue of FLW is on the rise globally, with Industry 4.0 technologies revolutionising many sectors, including the food sector. Further research is necessary, and closer collaboration between producers, distributors, consumers, and other actors involved in the food supply chain is still required to reduce FLW further.
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    From Food Industry 4.0 to Food Industry 5.0: Identifying technological enablers and potential future applications in the food sector
    (Wiley, 2024-11-01) Hassoun, Abdo; Jagtap, Sandeep; Trollman, Hana; Garcia‐Garcia, Guillermo; Duong, Linh N. K.; Saxena, Prateek; Bouzembrak, Yamine; Treiblmaier, Horst; Para‐López, Carlos; Carmona-Torres, Carmen ; Dev, Kapal; Mhlanga, David; Aït‐Kaddour, Abderrahmane
    Although several food‐related fields have yet to fully grasp the speed and breadth of the fourth industrial revolution (also known as Industry 4.0), growing literature from other sectors shows that Industry 5.0 (referring to the fifth industrial revolution) is already underway. Food Industry 4.0 has been characterized by the fusion of physical, digital, and biological advances in food science and technology, whereas future Food Industry 5.0 could be seen as a more holistic, multidisciplinary, and multidimensional approach. This review will focus on identifying potential enabling technologies of Industry 5.0 that could be harnessed to shape the future of food in the coming years. We will review the state‐of‐the‐art studies on the use of innovative technologies in various food and agriculture applications over the last 5 years. In addition, opportunities and challenges will be highlighted, and future directions and conclusions will be drawn. Preliminary evidence suggests that Industry 5.0 is the outcome of an evolutionary process and not of a revolution, as is often claimed. Our results show that regenerative and/or conversational artificial intelligence, the Internet of Everything, miniaturized and nanosensors, 4D printing and beyond, cobots and advanced drones, edge computing, redactable blockchain, metaverse and immersive techniques, cyber‐physical systems, digital twins, and sixth‐generation wireless and beyond are likely to be among the main driving technologies of Food Industry 5.0. Although the framework, vision, and value of Industry 5.0 are becoming popular research topics in various academic and industrial fields, the agri‐food sector has just started to embrace some aspects and dimensions of Industry 5.0.
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    Integrating digital technologies in agriculture for climate change adaptation and mitigation: state of the art and future perspectives
    (Elsevier, 2024-11-01) Parra-López, Carlos; Ben Abdallah, Saker; Garcia-Garcia, Guillermo; Hassoun, Abdo; Sánchez-Zamora, Pedro; Trollman, Hana; Jagtap, Sandeep; Carmona-Torres, Carmen
    Agriculture faces a major challenge in meeting the world's growing demand for food in a sustainable manner in the face of increasing environmental pressures, in particular the growing impact of climate change. Agriculture is also a major contributor to climate change. Digital technologies in agriculture can contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation. This paper examines the interactions between climate change and agriculture, reviews adaptation and mitigation strategies, explores the application of digital technologies in this context, and discusses future challenges and opportunities for sustainable and resilient agriculture. The final aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state and future prospects of digital agriculture in the context of climate change. A comprehensive literature review was conducted on adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture, and on the current state and future prospects of digital agriculture in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation. The identified applications of digital technologies in agriculture include Remote Sensing for crop monitoring, Big Data for predictive modelling of water shortages and pest outbreaks, Artificial Intelligence for pest identification and tracking, the Internet of Things for precision fertiliser management, nanotechnology for soil improvement, robots for targeted spraying, and blockchain for improved soil management and supply chain transparency, among others. These technologies facilitate the precise management of resources, improve decision-making processes and enable more efficient agricultural practices. Digital technologies also help mitigate climate change by optimising inputs such as water and fertiliser, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting carbon sequestration. However, there are significant barriers to the adoption of these technologies, including the digital divide, high up-front costs and complexity, as well as privacy and security concerns and the environmental impact of technology use. Future action must address these barriers by investing in infrastructure and training, ensuring financial incentives, developing scalable digital solutions tailored to local agricultural conditions, increasing digital literacy among farmers, developing comprehensive governance frameworks, and exploring the integration of multiple digital technologies. The paper contributes to advancing scientific understanding and guiding practice and policy towards sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change. It provides a call to action for a more sustainable future in the context of climate change and highlights the urgency of multi-stakeholder collaboration to create an enabling environment for the widespread adoption of these innovations, ensuring that they are accessible, cost-effective and suitable for different farming environments.