A new report commissioned by the European Commission and conducted by Fraunhofer IESE highlights the potential of artificial intelligence to transform agriculture into a more sustainable and resilient sector. AI-enabled decision-making support tools can help farmers boost efficiency, reduce inputs, and manage risks more effectively. However, adoption remains limited due to barriers such as lack of high-quality data, high costs, interoperability challenges, and regulatory uncertainty, especially for small-scale actors.
To overcome these obstacles, the report recommends policy actions including common data standards, regulatory sandboxes for testing, funding for data repositories and annotation services, and demonstration projects of certified, explainable tools. It also underscores the importance of shared infrastructure, such as the agri-food AI Factory under the Digital Europe Programme, which provides computing resources, datasets, and regulatory support. By fostering collaboration among policymakers, researchers, and industry, Europe can ensure that AI adoption in agriculture is trustworthy, transparent, and aligned with its sustainability goals.
