FARMING PERSPECTIVES
IEEE MetroAgriFor 2026 will feature two Impulse Presentations - inspiring talks designed to stimulate discussion and provide fresh perspectives on the future of agriculture and food systems.
Monika Schreiner
Agrifood Systems of the Future
Monika Schreiner
Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops e.V., Germany
ABSTRACT
The profound transformation of agricultural systems represents one of the central scientific, technological, and societal challenges of the twenty-first century. The visionary programme Agricultural Systems of the Future directly addresses these complex and interrelated challenges. Within this initiative, agricultural systems are being conceptually rethought and strategically redesigned to support the transformation towards sustainable, resilient, and responsible agricultural systems that place both people and the environment at their centre.
Particularly promising opportunities for successfully transforming agricultural systems towards greater sustainability and resilience lie in the field of converging technologies. Such transformation can only be achieved through the integration of forward-looking technologies. The greatest potential for disruptive innovation and novel applications emerges at the interfaces between artificial intelligence (AI) and agricultural and food sciences, robotics and ecosystem research, smart technologies in agriculture and plant and animal sciences. These technological convergences enable the development of intelligent, adaptive, and resource-efficient agricultural systems by combining data-driven decision making, automation, advanced sensing technologies, and biological knowledge within integrated system approaches.
The project food4future illustrates the transformative potential of converging technologies. Selected examples from the ongoing food4future project demonstrate how technological convergence can accelerate innovation, foster sustainable food production, and contribute to the resilience and future viability of agricultural systems.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
Research profile | As agricultural scientist, my basic research interest is the study of the plant secondary metabolism in order to optimize the concentration and composition of certain protective plant secondary metabolites taking the plant-environment interaction into account. Working at the plant-human interfaces, additionally, I investigate the nutritious potential of alternative food sources (algae, halophytes, jellyfish, crickets and underutilized crops) for the generation of sustainable, healthy and nutritious food products with a desired metabolite profile. For transforming agricultural systems sustainable agrifood new cultivation protocols and new cultivation systems for sustainable, urban, indoor production for saline organisms in single and co-cultivation have been developed. My research work is published in more than 200 scientific articles (ORCID 0000-0002-5629-4429).
Vision & Motivation | My vision are nutritious and healthy foods from diverse food sources for all at any time, produced in fair and sustainable food systems for healthy people within the planetary boundaries. I am motivated by a global challenge - the urgent need to shift to more plant-based healthy diets and to more sustainable agri-food systems leading to food security for all.
Paul Hofmann
