With the projected world population increasing to 10 billion by 2050, food production must increase 70% to provide enough food for a wealthier and growing population. Current agricultural practices are not sustainable enough to meet this demand, nor resilient or robust enough to adapt to climate change and associated environmental stressors. The US agriculture system is beginning to face limitations in available agricultural water (more than 75% of our freshwater resources are used in agriculture), land-use changes, arable land availability, pollution, climate extremes, emerging diseases, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and imparting national food security concerns, exasperated during pandemics.
Thus, we developed a multi-disciplinary program at VT focusing on alternative proteins, bioprocessing, food safety and smart agriculture. We are applying Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve food safety, quality, production, while reducing environmental footprint.