Enhancing the ability of agriculture to cope with major crises or disasters: What the experience of COVID-19 teaches us

Lioutas, Evagelos D.; Charatsari, Chrysanthi

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2020.103023

Cited by 79 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…As reported by FAO, the Committee on Food Security is currently working on guidelines to re-orient and transform the food system to be more resilient and sustainable [17]. As suggested by Lioutas and Charatsari [7], a new winning strategy could be to promote the diversity of agri-food production and to encourage the reconnection of farmers and consumers, through community marketing schemes, to facilitate the distribution of products during periods of crisis, while co-existing with the mainstream distribution channels. The above-mentioned solutions are very suitable for the horticultural sector, certainly less so for staple foods (rice, maize, exotic fruits etc.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sectors most affected by the lack of a labor force are livestock production, horticulture, planting, harvesting and the processing of crops [33]. As the production of staple crops is highly mechanized in the developed world, it has been less affected by the pandemic than the production of more labor-intensive crops, such as fruit and vegetables, which require larger amounts of human labor ( [7] and references therein). Due to the lack of labor availability in the fields, several crops have been left unharvested.…”

Section: The Impact On the Food Supply Chainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Substantial financial losses for some "luxury" perishable agricultural items, such as cut flowers, have been observed. For example, the New York Times has reported that from the beginning of the lockdown until April 2020, Dutch flower growers destroyed about 400,000,000 flowers that remained unsold as a result of the pandemic [7], or donated them to hospitals or even to passers-by in the streets. The ornamental sector has a strong socio-economic value worldwide.…”

Section: Loss Of Revenue From Ornamental Plants and Flowersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first cases of the infection were reported in December 2019, in Wuhan (China), and, at present, it is the main global health problem [3][4][5]. Countries have responded in different ways to the pandemic, including the introduction of total or partial lockdowns [6,7]. As for other pandemics in the past (Spanish Flu, Asian Flu, SARS, Ebola, Swine Flu, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Horticulture: Critical Issues and Opportunities Derived from an Unexpected Occurrence

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic is causing many victims worldwide and has generated a serious economic crisis. Substantial changes have occurred in the food and ornamental production chains. The aim of the present review has been to summarize some of the main effects that the pandemic is having on horticulture and on the new habits of people. Infections and quarantine measures have prevented the regular flow of certain goods and of connected services. Cases of shortages and/or surpluses, a lack of the availability of labor, and a reduction in demand for some food products and flowers have occurred. New food production approaches have emerged and a reconnection between farmers and consumers has been spreading, thereby facilitating product distribution. Moreover, during the forced isolation, people have had to face periods of stress. The benefits that can be derived from leisure activities related to flowers and ornamental plants, and from access to nature and urban green spaces are increasingly being recognized as relevant. The seriousness of the pandemic will inevitably lead to lasting changes. Therefore, the vulnerability of the pre-COVID-19 distribution chains should be considered and a new food production chain should be drawn up, to increase the resilience of such systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Impact On the Food Supply Chainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Loss Of Revenue From Ornamental Plants and Flowersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Horticulture: Critical Issues and Opportunities Derived from an Unexpected Occurrence

et al. 2021

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“…The main goals of this ongoing revolution concern the introduction of the automation and digital technologies in the agriculture sector favoring a transition toward smart and sustainable farming systems. In this context, Agriculture 4.0 represents a great opportunity to take into account the variability and uncertainties involving the agri-food production chain, especially due to the costumers' inconstancy or in fighting emergency situations such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic [4]. The main innovative technologies able to support this transition include the Internet of Things (IoT) [5], Artificial Intelligence (AI) [6], remote sensing and new applications in intelligent control and the automation of production processes [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model Predictive Control versus Traditional Relay Control in a High Energy Efficiency Greenhouse

et al. 2021

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The sustainable agriculture cultivation in greenhouses is constantly evolving thanks to new technologies and methodologies able to improve the crop yield and to solve the common concerns which occur in protected environments. In this paper, an MPC-based control system has been realized in order to control the indoor air temperature in a high efficiency greenhouse. The main objective is to determine the optimal control signals related to the water mass flow rate supplied by a heat pump. The MPC model allows a predefined temperature profile to be tracked with an energy saving approach. The MPC has been implemented as a multiobjective optimization model that takes into account the dynamic behavior of the greenhouse in terms of energy and mass balances. The energy supply is provided by a ground coupled heat pump (GCHP) and by the solar radiation while the energy losses related to heat transfers across the glazed envelope. The proposed MPC method was applied in a smart innovative greenhouse located in Italy, and its performances were compared with a traditional reactive control method in terms of deviation of the indoor temperature in respect to the desired one and in terms of electric power consumption. The results demonstrated that, for a time horizon of 20 h, in a greenhouse with dimensions 15.3 and 9.9 m and an average height of 4.5 m, the proposed MPC approach saved about 30% in electric power compared with a relay control, guaranteeing a consistent and reliable temperature profile in respect to the predefined tracked one.

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A Comprehensive Analysis of Sustainable IoT Infrastructure in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Roy

2021

Internet of Things

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Enhancing the ability of agriculture to cope with major crises or disasters: What the experience of COVID-19 teaches us

Cited by 79 publications

References 47 publications

The Impact of COVID-19 on Horticulture: Critical Issues and Opportunities Derived from an Unexpected Occurrence

The Impact of COVID-19 on Horticulture: Critical Issues and Opportunities Derived from an Unexpected Occurrence

Model Predictive Control versus Traditional Relay Control in a High Energy Efficiency Greenhouse

A Comprehensive Analysis of Sustainable IoT Infrastructure in the Post-COVID-19 Era

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