Overview
The main way that humanity's need for food and industrial raw materials is met is through modern agriculture, a vital sector of plant- and animal-based material production or service. Industrial biotechnology, on the other hand, uses non-grain crops or agricultural waste as a renewable source of biological material and makes use of the processes that living things go through to produce food, chemicals, energy, and other goods. The advancement of agriculture and industrial biotechnology depends heavily on key enabling technologies like biotechnology and digital technology, which also foster innovation and development in fields like bio-agriculture, digital agriculture, and synthetic biology manufacturing. It also establishes the groundwork for meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, which include ending hunger, guaranteeing food security, enhancing nutrition, and fostering sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
The general state of affairs in the fields of industrial biotechnology and contemporary agriculture
The data-driven "Agriculture 4.0" is changing how the agriculture sector operates. Essentially, the evolution of agriculture is the history of agricultural technology innovation, and each significant technological advance and its application to agriculture has resulted in a fresh leap in the field's advancement and a push toward high-tech. Agriculture in developed nations has now ushered in the era of information technology-driven Agriculture 4.0 in terms of fundamental technology underpinning the sector. Big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, and other digital and intelligent technologies will hasten the digitalization and application of all production components as well as the development of modern agriculture. Future agricultural production will be data-driven, utilizing technologies like sensors, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing to create an extensive data collection, processing, and analysis platform. Through a customized decision support system, the platform will eventually offer farmers actionable recommendations and automatically schedule pertinent operations.
The transition to a greener development of material production is being driven by the application of biotechnology. The green development of contemporary agriculture and industry is greatly aided by agriculture and industrial biotechnology. The second green revolution in agriculture is being fueled by the constantly evolving agricultural biotechnology, which offers fresh approaches to problems including pests and diseases, environmental degradation, and climate change. The field of biotechnology with the quickest growth and the widest application internationally is agricultural genetic engineering. Plant and animal breeding have become more accurate and efficient as a result of the recent development of next generation biotechnologies like gene editing and epigenetic modification. In the industrial sector, industrial biotechnology-based biomanufacturing has entered a phase of rapid expansion, and biorefineries...
Principal national strategic indicators and traits
The major countries of the globe have all put into place pertinent strategic measures to assure the green, sustainable production and supply of their materials, developing their own unique development routes, in accordance with their respective endowments of resources and economic foundations.
In order to maintain its position as a global leader, the United States: Gives attention to the broad application of biotechnology and digital technologies in industry and agriculture. As the world's largest supplier of agricultural goods, the US uses extensive farm production and operating methods and has access to an abundance of natural resources. The US has prioritized agriculture as a development area in recent years, emphasizing the use of biotechnology and digital technologies to increase the efficiency of agricultural output. In the coming ten years, the US will concentrate on five game-changing technologies, including systematic cognitive analysis, new generation sensors, agricultural food informatics, genomics and precision breeding, and microbiology, as well as seven priority directions in the field of agriculture, including seed industry, livestock, food technology, soil science, efficient use of agricultural water, data science, and system science. The US focuses significance on the development and exploitation of biomass energy due to domestic overproduction of agricultural products, which encourages the growth of value-added industries like bio-refining. The US Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Defense have all put into action significant programs to encourage the invention and growth of bio-based companies.
European nations should take the lead in promoting green ideas in agriculture and industry. By concentrating on the production of clean, pollution-free, and superior agricultural products, the majority of European nations have essentially resolved their problem with the availability of food. European nations prioritize integrating environmentally friendly practices into contemporary agriculture and industry to promote sustainable social and economic growth. The European Union published "From Farm to Table" in May 2020, and...
Israel, South Korea, and Japan are among the nations that place a strong priority on the growth of high-value businesses. These nations, who rely significantly on food imports, attach enormous emphasis to using cutting-edge technologies to overcome limitations of land and water resources, choosing instead to pursue a highly intensive and profitable agriculture sector. The "Future Agricultural Technology Strategy" of South Korea, which was published in 2019, calls for the promotion of high-value agriculture through smart agriculture and agricultural biotechnology. In Japan, sophisticated biomanufacturing and other next-generation biological industries are being developed with a strong emphasis on the integration of biotechnology and information technology. The integration of gene editing and artificial intelligence technology is highly valued in Israel.
The current state and hotspots of industrial biotechnology and contemporary agriculture
Plant breeding and disease control are more precise and environmentally benign because to the application and advancement of agricultural biotechnology. The basis of molecular breeding is genomic research on plants and animals, which is also at the vanguard and in the hotspots of the area of plant breeding. The groundwork for later investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying significant features in animals and plants has been laid by recent developments in the sequencing and re-sequencing of the genomes of important species like rice and pigs. Research into the genetic control mechanisms of features like effective nitrogen use and photosynthetic efficiency has made significant strides in the meantime, giving valuable gene resources for plant genetic development. Among these, a novel breeding method for the development of sustainable agriculture is offered by the new mechanism of chitin signaling transmission discovered by the team led by Fu Xingdong of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The findings of the relevant research were released on February 7, 2020.
There is still no agreement on how to regulate products made using novel breeding techniques, like as gene editing, which is rapidly advancing. The CRISPR gene-editing tool continuously develops to increase the precision and efficacy of breeding for both plants and animals. Additionally, the variety of breeding tools accessible is increased by combining gene-editing technologies with established breeding techniques including non-fusion reproduction and haploid induction. Gene-editing technology has been used in agricultural research on 15 different plants, including wheat and rice, as well as domesticated animals, such as cows, sheep, and pigs. The first gene-edited high oleic acid soybean oil will be sold in the US in 2019, thus advancing the commercialization of gene-edited products. The regulation of gene-edited goods is now a contentious issue, and without a universal agreement, different nations have achieved varying progress in this area. Despite the enormous potential of gene-editing technology in breeding, the control of core gene-editing patent by Europe and the US and the formation of a thorough industrial technology chain from basic research to technology development services to breeding application pose serious threats to the development of related industries in China.
A more ecologically friendly approach to the prevention and control of plant and animal diseases is promoted by the development and use of innovative bioprotective agents. RNAi pesticides and biopesticides like pheromones, which are used to manage plant pests, are a safe, efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional chemical pesticides. Compared to conventional chemicals, these novel biopesticides are more profitable and offer better protection since they are more targeted and sustainable. The US Environmental Protection Agency has currently licensed a number of RNAi-based products as pesticides. The Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has contributed €6.4 million to the development and commercialization of a biopesticide technology based on insect pheromones. Breakthroughs in the research of the structure and assembly mechanism of the African swine fever virus and the development of potential vaccines for African swine fever and avian influenza have contributed to the avoidance of animal diseases and laid the groundwork for the green control of major animal diseases.
By making agricultural production management more effective and intelligent, digital technology ushers in an era of intelligent design and advances biological synthesis.
The breeding of livestock and the production of agricultural crops are more effective. Sensor systems make it easier for physical objects to communicate with one another during data collection, improving the efficiency and timeliness of the process. As an illustration, Climate Corporation, a division of the German Bayer Company, created the first field sensor network in history, laying the groundwork for its dominance in the digital agriculture sector. Big data and intelligent technology paired with large-scale crop management increase crop productivity.
The development of artificial intelligence technologies has improved the convenience and effectiveness of the animal breeding process. The 5G intelligent cow collar, which allows for real-time cow health monitoring, was introduced in Britain. European and American agricultural transnational companies are advancing their digital agriculture business strategies in the industrial sector thanks to their great expertise. One of them, Bayer Company, was among the first businesses to use big data in the agricultural industry and has since established itself as a leader in the field of digital agriculture through a number of mergers and acquisitions. The Bayer Company continues to grow the digital agriculture platform market with the aim of creating a worldwide agricultural production data kingdom. Bayer Company currently views agriculture big data as its main business development.
Equipment and machinery used in agriculture are becoming more sophisticated and intelligent. Intelligent agricultural equipment is currently constantly developing. Using high-precision positioning, big data analysis, and intelligent identification technology, for instance, the strawberry harvesting robot, the cross-species harvesting robot, and the unmanned tractor significantly increase the level of automation and production efficiency in agriculture. Many nations have expressed interest in the swift development of plant industries.
Final say
In addition to Singapore's ambitions to build indoor botanical factories and Japan's 120 operational commercialized botanical factories, the United Kingdom has increased financing for research into cutting-edge methods for planting in new-generation botanical factories. Our country is following suit after making great advancements. A technology-intensive industry, agricultural machinery and equipment are a part of all phases of agricultural production. There is currently a gap with developed nations like the United States in areas like power shifting, hydraulic control, and the reliability of agricultural machinery because of our nation's hasty development of agricultural machinery and reliance on the importation of foreign agricultural technology systems.
The age of intelligent design has ushered in the field of biomimicry. Researchers are currently making tremendous strides in the creation of biomimetics, from the design of genes and proteins to the manufacturing process. For example, scientists at Washington University and Stanford University created the first synthetic anti-cancer protein using computer programming, and researchers at the University of Illinois created an engineering platform that integrates artificial intelligence design, construction, testing, and learning and successfully demonstrated the biosynthesis of lycopene.
