Future Food

The food production process starts from sowing and the choice of the system that needs to be applied. In fact, it is essential to also talk about agriculture when we focus on the future and sustainability of food. From a very abundant but low productivity manpower to the use of fertilizers and large agricultural machinery, we now see digital technologies included in the agricultural context. What we are talking about is agriculture 4.0 a model of agriculture that uses advanced technologies in an interconnected way with the aim of making production more sustainable and efficient.

Basil plant grown with the vertical farming system at Agricola Moderna.

The greenhouse horticulture sector in the Netherlands is a world leader. It stands out for continuous research and high innovation. The need is to provide the necessary scientific basis for sustainable agricultural production and high quality horticultural products. By exploring and exploiting the physiology of plants, the focus of the research is on how the physiological processes in crops and plants interact with the abiotic environment and how this affects the crop production and the quality of the product. The goal is to achieve an improvement of the yield, pre and post harvest quality, energy saving and efficient use of water.

Analysis of the growth trend of strawberries with indoor systems. Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands.

Data acquisition for monitoring the growth of tomato plants in greenhouses. Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands.

Hyperspectral chamber in the research center for the post-harvest phases of food and agri-food robotics. Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands.

With the use of electronic and IT tools, it is possible to prevent any diseases or pests that could damage the crop, it makes it easier to calculate the water needs of a crop avoiding waste, or even map your field to keep its health under control. An example of agriculture 4.0 is Horta srl at the C  Bosco farm, near Ravenna. By joining the LIFE AGRESTIC experimental project, they installed prototypes for real-time detection of greenhouse gas emissions from the soil.

The Dutch agricultural system provides for the extensive use of greenhouses for plant growth in controlled environments. The Netherlands.

Not all types of meat have animal origin: vegetable “meat”, in fact, is made with legume flours, cereals or other proteins. Consumer’s interest in this product has increased significantly in the past years due to greater attention to a healthy diet and environmental protection. It is now known that intensive farming is not the future of nutrition in terms of health, animal welfare and sustainability. In fact, recently many people have preferred to reduce consumption of red meat due to cholesterol, presence of antibiotics, etc.

Capsule for 3D printing of vegetable meat, Novameat.

The growing exploitation of water resources will advance water scarcity and the challenge will be to produce more food for the growing world population with reduced water resources. The closed ecosystem created within the biosphere is well preserved from the attack of parasites. No use of pesticides means having an ecological environment in close contact with sea water, thus avoiding any perturbation of the marine ecosystem.

The HPP (High Pressure Processing) system, thanks to the absence of heat, makes it possible to obtain products where the original nutritional compounds such as vitamins and antioxidants, are not compromised. Furthermore, the color is not altered and the flavor remains genuine, fresh and natural, at the same time extending the conservation of the product, or its shelf life.

With the development of the economy and technology, consumers not only demand the convenience of food, but also pay more attention to the freshness, cleanliness and minimal processing. Traditional heat treatment, in general, causes loss of quality and nutrients present in the raw materials. On the other hand, the new conditions of processing obtained the reduction of deterioration and loss of sensory quality, providing the consumers with quality products. One of the most promising non-thermal technologies, in various fields of application, are pulsed electric fields (PEF).

Bioreactors used for the production of microalgae. Algreen BV, The Netherlands.

Study within robotic greenhouses of the performance of plants that differentiate for various factors. NPEC, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands.

Bioreactors used for the production of microalgae. Algreen BV, The Netherlands.

Entomology studies on the relationship between insects and plant growth performance. Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands.

Pre-treated seeds before fielding.

With this type of agriculture, also called Smart Agriculture, the primary and tertiary sector, come together not only in increasing the yield, quality and health of products, but also in reducing production costs and negative impacts on health and the environment. Horta srl carries out experimental tests on about 20 hectares for various crops including wheat, soy, tomato, energy crops, sorghum and corn. By dividing the field into plots, it evaluates the effects of different treatments and analyzes their effectiveness in terms of yield, microbiological safety and quality of the final product.