STI and Agriculture

The journey from Agriculture 1.0 to agriculture 5.0 has moved through multiple phases enabled by technological innovations. Science, technology, and innovation in the sector too has moved through phases – from a sole focus on increased productivity to sustainable tech and recently to equity. While some old challenges persist, new ones emerge. Climate change is affecting the sector in more ways than one while the sector remains one of the critical contributors to GHG emissions. In all that, some questions that arise are, how can R&D ensure emphasis on sustainable technologies towards conserving agroecological diversity? How can STI policies provide an ecosystem to make technology uptake and upscaling aa reality? In what ways can it ensure science and technology translates to innovation that focuses on sustainability and equity as mutually inclusive issues?