This book describes the concept, characteristics, methodology, design, management, business, recent advances and future technologies of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFAL) and indoor vertical farms. The third wave of PFAL business started in around 2010 in Japan and Taiwan, and in USA and Europe it began in about 2013 after the rapid advances in LED technology. The book discusses the basic and advanced developments in recent PFALs and future smart PFALs that emerged in 2016. There is an emerging interest around the globe in smart PFAL R&D and business, which are expected to play an important role in urban agriculture in the coming decades. It is also expected that they will contribute to solving the trilemma of food, environment and natural resources with increasing urban populations and decreasing agricultural populations and arable land area. Current obstacles to successful PFAL R&D and business are: 1) no well-accepted concepts and methodology for PFAL design and management, 2) lack of understanding of the environmental effects on plant growth and development and hydroponics among engineers; 3) lack of understanding of the technical and engineering aspects of PFAL among horticulturists; 4) lack of knowledge of the technical challenges and opportunities in future PFAL businesses among business professionals, policy makers, and investors and 5) lack of a suitable textbook on the recent advances in PFAL technologies and business for graduate students and young researchers. This book covers all the aspects of successful smart PFAL R & D and business.

This book provides a broad overview of the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) that can be used for smart farming applications, through either successful engineering or ground-breaking research. Among them, the highlighted tactics are soil management, water management, crop management, livestock management, harvesting, and the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) in smart farming. Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things in Smart Farming explores different types of smart framing systems for achieving sustainability goals in the real environment. The authors discuss the benefits of smart harvesting systems over traditional harvesting methods, including decreased labor requirements, increased crop yields, increased probabilities of successful harvests, enhanced visibility into crop health, and lower overall harvest and production costs. It explains and describes big data in terms of its potential five dimensions—volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and valuation—within the framework of smart farming. The authors also discuss the recent IoT technologies, such as fifth-generation networks, blockchain, and digital twining, to improve the sustainability and productivity of smart farming systems. The book identifies numerous issues that call for conceptual innovation and has the potential to progress machine learning (ML), resulting in significant impacts. As an illustration, the authors point out how smart farming offers an intriguing field for interpretable ML. The book then delves into the function of AI techniques, such as AI in accelerating the development of nano-enabled agriculture, thereby facilitating safe-by-design nanomaterials for various consumer products and medical applications. This book is for undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, and AI engineers who pursue a strong understanding of the practical methods of machine learning in the agriculture domain. Practitioners and stakeholders would be able to follow this book to understand the potential of ML in their farming projects and agricultural solutions. Features: • Explores different types of smart framing systems for achieving sustainability goals in the real environment • Explores ML-based analytics such as generative adversarial networks (GAN), autoencoders, computational imaging, and quantum computing • Examines the development of intelligent machines to provide solutions to real-world problems, emphasizing smart farming applications, which are not modeled or are extremely difficult to model mathematically • Emphasizes methods for better managing crops, soils, water, and livestock, urging investors and businesspeople to occupy the existing vacant market area • Discusses AI-empowered Nanotechnology for smart farming

In order to meet food needs, farmers need to integrate the latest technologies enabling them to make more informed decisions. Smart Farming Technologies for Sustainable Agricultural Development provides innovative insights into the latest farming advancements in terms of informatics and communication. The content within this publication represents the work of topics such as sensor systems, wireless communication, and the integration of the Internet of Things in agriculture-related processes. It is a vital reference source for farmers, academicians, researchers, government agencies, technology developers, and graduate-level students seeking current research on smart farming technologies.

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"This book highlights the contextual dimensions of the agribusiness industry through which entrepreneurship researchers would be able to enhance their understanding of entrepreneurship by focusing on the following research question: "Why do individuals, farmers, agrarian, start a new business in the agricultural sector and how do they manage entrepreneurial performance, and what impact it has on the economy?""--

Agricultural Internet of Things and Decision Support for Smart Farming reveals how a set of key enabling technologies (KET) related to agronomic management, remote and proximal sensing, data mining, decision-making and automation can be efficiently integrated in one system. Chapters cover how KETs enable real-time monitoring of soil conditions, determine real-time, site-specific requirements of crop systems, help develop a decision support system (DSS) aimed at maximizing the efficient use of resources, and provide planning for agronomic inputs differentiated in time and space. This book is ideal for researchers, academics, post-graduate students and practitioners who want to embrace new agricultural technologies. - Presents the science behind smart technologies for agricultural management - Reveals the power of data science and how to extract meaningful insights from big data on what is most suitable based on individual time and space - Proves how advanced technologies used in agriculture practices can become site-specific, locally adaptive, operationally feasible and economically affordable

A practical, how-to guide for farmers who want to achieve and maintain financial sustainability in their businesses When you decided to become a farmer, you also became an entrepreneur and business person. In order to be ecologically and financially sustainable, you must understand the basics of accounting and bookkeeping, and learn how to manage a growing business. Author Julia Shanks distills years of teaching and business consulting with farmers into this comprehensive, accessible guide. She covers all aspects of launching, running and growing a successful farm business through effective bookkeeping and business management, providing tools to make managerial decisions, apply for a loan or other financing, and offering general business and strategy advice for growing a business. Whether you've been farming for many years or just getting started, The Farmer's Office gives you the tools needed to think like an entrepreneur and thoughtfully manage your business for success.