Ibm Aims To Revitalize Global Food Supply Chains With Three Promising Initiatives

The world will welcome a smarter, safer, simpler, and more efficient food supply chain within the next few years.

FREMONT, CA: The earth's population will increase by eight billion in a few years, marking the first-ever. The sophisticated food supply chain was earlier stressed by climate change and water scarcity. To deal with the demands of the rising population and address the needs of modern customers and suppliers, IBM researchers are coming up with new technologies and devices, giving the food supply chain an all-new makeover by reconsidering food safety and security.

Following are the latest initiatives IBM scientists are assembling.

• Virtual Farming Models

Sources predict that the earth's population will increase by 45 % by the end of this century, and farmable lands will decrease by 20 %. As a result, the farmable area accessible may not be used efficiently, and there will be post-harvest losses due to poor farming practices. It shows that current farming models require improvement to keep pace with the increasing food demand.

 IBM imagines a planet where immediate access to critical data on farmland could be given to anyone who needs it. Shortly this will become a reality with IBM proposing a digital twin, where the world's agricultural resources are readily available.

 Developing a digital twin of the world's farm data can allow farmers to share insights, research, materials, and information on farmland and crop growth with the food supply chain. With the digital twin of farms plus agricultural activity, participants at each food chain level can access more information and resources, resulting in a more equitable farming economy, meaning more food at a lower cost.

The IBM PAIRS Geoscope collects massive geospatial-temporal data from maps, satellites, weather, drones, the Internet of Things (IoT), and many other devices. It permits agrarians to research, monitor, and analyze various factors influencing farming worldwide. For example, IBM scientists in Kenya are developing technology to enable sensors to give supply and demand patterns based on groundwater extraction data. IBM has also come together with AgTech startups to construct a digital wallet that allows farming and all related data to be captured, tracked, and shared instantly across people involved in the agriculture value chain, including financial firms, to help farmers gain access to credit.

• Preventing Food Wastage

IBM is trying to eliminate many of the costly unknowns in the food supply chain. Each player in the ecosystem will know how much to plant, order, and ship from farmers to suppliers. Food loss will decrease significantly when blockchain technology, IoT devices, and AI algorithms join forces.

IBM Food Trust is a secure digital ledger that harnesses blockchain technology to relate to each member of the food supply chain via accurate shared information. IBM researchers invest their efforts to take blockchain to the next level by coupling IoT sensors and AI algorithms, making seed-to-plate food tracking more accurate and reliable. As a result, the blockchain and IBM Food Trust will carry greater precision in farming. With these tools, the world can wait for a future where nothing goes to waste.

• Radical Recycling

Plastic waste is plaguing the planet. Research says that by 2050, the amount of plastic in the ocean can take over fish. Plastic recycling advancement is the solution suggested by IBM, enabling plastic bottles, containers, and fabrics to be collected, grouped up, and combined with a chemical catalyst in a pressure cooker. The catalyst can digest the plastic with heat and a small amount of pressure. This process will divide contaminants from usable. In future years, plastic recycling advancements could be adopted around the globe to combat global plastic waste.  

IBM researchers have advanced a catalytic chemical procedure that digests specific plastics into a substance that can become the input for the plastic manufacturing machines to produce new products. With this technology aboard, people buying a plastic bottle or container will know that the plastic they have purchased will not end up in the ocean but will be repurposed and put back on the shelf.

IBM scientists worldwide are working to develop technology solutions at each stage of the food supply chain. They are assisting agrarians in maximizing crop yields and developing ways to curb wastage. These initiatives paint a positive picture of the world's food supply chain.