Thursday 18 November 2021 - Can Technology Innovation Awaken a Sleeping Giant? This webinar includes a summary of the key issues facing global agriculture; emerging applications of agricultural robotics; an overview of some of the key developments in the field; and much more.

Researchers have invented bubble casting, a new way to make soft robots using "fancy balloons" that change shape in predictable ways when inflated with air.

When grazing goats that are wearing this new technology hear a beep, it alerts them to stay within the invisible boundary of the grazing area. If they don't, a digital collar around their necks gives them a small electric shock.

Electrifying one medium-sized tractor in California reduces carbon emissions by as much as replacing 45 cars with EVs. Gridtractor will help farmers seamlessly integrate electric charging and vehicle to grid into their operations to strengthen the power grid with its smart energy platform. In addition, the company estimates farms can save 55-75 percent on fuel costs by going electric, and up to 90 percent by supplying stored power to irrigation pumps and to the grid.

Friday 12 November 2021 - covering recent progress with smart cities and what is likely to happen in 2022. It deals with both new cities and existing ones that are radically modernising. Learn how the objectives are now far more ambitious

Yellow leaf disease, a major sugarcane pest in Brazil, is caused by a virus resistant to thermal treatment. An infected plantation can be saved only by growing plantlets in tissue culture in the laboratory and planting them out, a time-consuming process that requires specialized infrastructure and personnel.

Cultured meat has come a long way since 2013. What was once a concept from the realms of science fiction, made in tiny quantities in research labs for astronomical costs has now become an emerging industry, with start-ups across the world racing to become the first to successfully produce cultured meat on a commercial scale.

Agri-tech company Agribot AI has won the Agri-EPI and Hands Free Farm hackathon tackling safety and security concerns around autonomous agricultural vehicles.

Ideas have moved on from a smart city being a dystopian world of sensors everywhere and people control by artificial intelligence - smart cities are primarily about progressing to water, food, and power independence and minimal transport. How to make smart cities in both deserts and the sea must be figured out.

Cities seek more independence and security with water, food, and 100% electrification.

AUGA group, Europe's largest vertically integrated organic food producer, has introduced the world's first hybrid biomethane and electric tractor for professional farm use - AUGA M1. Until now, sustainable fuel tractors available on the market have not been suitable for large-scale farm work. This is the company's first step in offering technological solutions that will help eliminate climate pollution throughout the food supply chain and foster sustainable agriculture. According to a recent study, food systems are responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and a large part of it is due to the use of fossil fuels in agricultural machinery. According to Kęstutis Juščius, CEO of AUGA group, the new technology, on which AUGA M1 is based, will help to create a new food production model on a global scale and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.

A recent study shows pesticides in fruit and vegetables kill 11,000 people every year and unintentionally poison 385 million worldwide. Monitoring these foods for microscopic chemicals and harmful bacteria can take days of sending small batches off to laboratories for testing and analysis. But now, a new detector is being developed to spot minute traces of these poisonous elements with photonics to give a result in minutes.

Researchers have successfully produced coffee cells in a bioreactor through cellular agriculture. The innovation can help to make the production of coffee more sustainable. The first batches produced in a laboratory in Finland smell and taste like conventional coffee.

On the 22nd of September 2021, one of the largest water desalination projects, and the first of its kind in Africa will be launched in Marsabit County, Kenya. It delivers over 11,000litres of drinking water per hour, with a capacity of providing water to over 30,000 community members in a radius of 5km water points, which will be distributed through 24 fully automated water ATMs.

SMART nanosensors are safer and less tedious than existing techniques for testing plants' response to compounds such as herbicides.

Unmanaged feral cattle and buffaloes have a huge impact on biodiversity including land degradation, overgrazing of native vegetation, erosion and destruction to rivers and wetlands. CSIRO and Microsoft are working on the digital twin project, dubbed SpaceCows, as part of the collaborative satellite herd-tracking program.

UK research institute Rothamsted Research, a pioneer of GM crop trials since the 1990s, has been granted permission by Defra to run a series of field trials of wheat that has been genome edited. The Hertfordshire-based experiments will be the first field trials of CRISPR edited wheat anywhere in the UK or Europe.

IDTechEx has recently released "Agricultural Robotics Market 2022-2032", a market research report exploring the technical and market factors that are shaping the emerging industry around agricultural robotics. Based on IDTechEx's technical and industry analysis, the agricultural robotics market size is forecast to reach $6.7 billion by 2032.

Scientists used stem cells isolated from Wagyu cows to 3D-print a meat alternative containing muscle, fat, and blood vessels arranged to closely resemble conventional steaks. This work may help usher in a more sustainable future with widely available cultured meat.