Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops including floriculture. The value of specialty crop production in the United States accounted for 18.44 % of the $433.569 billion in agriculture cash receipts collected in 2021. In 2020, that ratio was 21.47% of the $363.464 billion. Specialty crops are gaining increasing attention across nation as demonstrated in the 2018 farm bill (Agricultural Act of the 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334)) with the increased number of provisions addressing specialty crop issues, reflecting their growing role in the global economy. The cultivation of Specialty crops, nevertheless, has its own challenges. Specialty crops are generally more sensitive to climatic stressors and require more comprehensive management compared to traditional row crops. Specialty crops face significant financial risks threatening US$1.6 Trillion global market due to their higher water demand. The mission of the book is to prepare current and future software engineering teams, agriculture students, economists, macroeconomists with the skills and tools to fully utilize advanced data science, artificial intelligence, climate patterns, and economic models to develop software capabilities that help to achieve Specialty crops and economic sustainability, through improved productivity for years to come and ensure enough food for the future of the planet and generations to come!

The integration of AI-powered e-gamified modules in education has significantly impacted students' scientific attitudes and academic achievement in science. This study investigates how AI-driven gamification enhances engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, leading to improved academic performance. AI enables personalized learning experiences by adapting to individual student needs, thus fostering a more interactive and learner-centered approach. E-gamified modules provide immediate feedback, motivating students to correct errors and reinforce learning. The main aim of the study is to find out whether there is any significant difference between pre-test & post-test mean scores of secondary school students taught with and without AI-powered e-gamified modules in science. 80 Samples were chosen by employing purposive sampling technique. The researcher has used standardized PhET simulation modules. The results show that the post-test mean scores of the experimental group are significantly different than that of the control group. The study suggests that when students are exposed to AI-powered gamified learning environments, they develop a more positive disposition toward scientific methods and show measurable improvements in performance. This research highlights the potential of AI in transforming traditional education by making learning more dynamic, personalized, and effective, thereby fostering a deeper understanding of science and its applications.

As technology continues to saturate modern society, agriculture has started to adopt digital computing and data-driven innovations. This emergence of “smart” farming has led to various advancements in the field, including autonomous equipment and the collection of climate, livestock, and plant data. As connectivity and data management continue to revolutionize the farming industry, empirical research is a necessity for understanding these technological developments. Artificial Intelligence and IoT-Based Technologies for Sustainable Farming and Smart Agriculture provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of critical technological solutions within the farming industry. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as crop monitoring, precision livestock farming, and agronomic data processing, this book is ideally designed for farmers, agriculturalists, product managers, farm holders, manufacturers, equipment suppliers, industrialists, governmental professionals, researchers, academicians, and students seeking current research on technological applications within agriculture and farming.

The merging of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet-of-Things is known as Artificial Intelligence-of-Things (AIoT). IoT consists of interlinked computing devices and machines which can acquire, transfer, and execute field/industrial operations without human involvement, while AI processes the acquired data and helps extract the required information. The technologies work in synergy: AI enriches IoT through machine learning and deep learning-based data analysis and learning capabilities, whereas IoT enriches AI through data acquisition, connectivity, and data exchange. Precision agriculture is becoming critically important for sustainable food production to meet the growing food demand. In recent decades, AI and IoT techniques have played an increasing role within industrial operations (e.g. autonomous manufacturing, automated supply chain management, predictive maintenance, smart energy grids, smart home appliances, and wearables), however, agricultural field operations are still heavily dependent on human labor. This is because these operations are ill-defined, unstructured, and susceptible to variation in natural conditions (e.g. illumination, landscape, atmosphere) plus the biological nature of crops (fruits, stems, leaves, and/or shoots continuously change their shape and/or color as they grow).

This book is a multi-disciplinary effort that involves world-wide experts from diverse fields, such as artificial intelligence, human computer interaction, information technology, data mining, statistics, adaptive user interfaces, decision support systems, marketing, and consumer behavior. It comprehensively covers the topic of recommender systems, which provide personalized recommendations of items or services to the new users based on their past behavior. Recommender system methods have been adapted to diverse applications including social networking, movie recommendation, query log mining, news recommendations, and computational advertising. This book synthesizes both fundamental and advanced topics of a research area that has now reached maturity. Recommendations in agricultural or healthcare domains and contexts, the context of a recommendation can be viewed as important side information that affects the recommendation goals. Different types of context such as temporal data, spatial data, social data, tagging data, and trustworthiness are explored. This book illustrates how this technology can support the user in decision-making, planning and purchasing processes in agricultural & healthcare sectors.

Application of Machine Learning in Smart Agriculture is the first book to present a multidisciplinary look at how technology can not only improve agricultural output, but the economic efficiency of that output as well. Through a global lens, the book approaches the subject from a technical perspective, providing important knowledge and insights for effective and efficient implementation and utilization of machine learning. As artificial intelligence techniques are being used to increase yield through optimal planting, fertilizing, irrigation, and harvesting, these are only part of the complex picture which must also take into account the economic investment and its optimized return. The performance of machine learning models improves over time as the various mathematical and statistical models are proven. Presented in three parts, Application of Machine Learning in Smart Agriculture looks at the fundamentals of smart agriculture; the economics of the technology in the agricultural marketplace; and a diverse representation of the tools and techniques currently available, and in development. This book is an important resource for advanced level students and professionals working with artificial intelligence, internet of things, technology and agricultural economics. - Addresses the technology of smart agriculture from a technical perspective - Reveals opportunities for technology to improve and enhance not only yield and quality, but the economic value of a food crop - Discusses physical instruments, simulations, sensors, and markets for machine learning in agriculture