Prof. Claus Grøn Sørensen, University of Aarhus, Denmark
Dear colleagues and friends of the global Biosystems Engineering Community
It is an honor to accept the position of being the next President of CIGR and have great respect for the responsibilities it entails. I am ready to contribute at my best to the common good of CIGR and not the least advancing this organization of ours in continuation of what has come before and embrace new emerging responsibilities for the Agricultural and Biosystems community.
In many ways, the agri-food system is undergoing a profound transition or one could argue that the agri-food system is on the verge of a paradigm shift in these years. The agricultural sector urgently needs transformation to achieve greater sustainability from economic, socioeconomic, and environmental perspectives. Productivity, food security, and environmental protection must be sustained together with improved biodiversity and reduction of greenhouse gases to address the hazards of climate change. The globalization of markets has increased the competitiveness whereas the consumers’ needs for healthy, safe and locally produced products highlight the need for high quality production. According to Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the next 20 years world food production must increase by 50%, while 80% of that increase must come from sustainable intensification.
Meeting these profound challenges requires the development and implementation of innovative tools and techniques currently being funded and researched all over the world. Exciting advances include Smart Farming applications involving data collection (edge intelligence), data processing, data analysis and automation technologies in the overall value chain, that in an integrated way allow operation and management improvement (analytics) of a farm with respect to standard operations (near real time) and re-use of these data in improved chain transparency (food safety) and chain optimization (smart data). Other advances include automation and robotics technologies improving overall productivity.
Sustainable agri-food systems involve large-scale coordination of farming and value chain operations, and it require, for example, extensive digital devices and infrastructure technologies to enable and provide data and digital information chains. A new technology understanding is underway, where digital/data technologies are not just replacing old technologies and practices “one-to-one”, but have to be seen as part of a socio-technical practice, where it often changes the very practice, it is a part of, while at the same time complying with a number of system constraints. Addressing these needs requires an interdisciplinary approach that goes beyond the technology itself. It involves understanding human to technology interactions, changing mindsets about how digitalization integrates with production systems, and focusing on a total system perspective.
This change of technology development and implementation means we are looking into an envisioned Biosystems Engineering Science that include an extensive interdisciplinary approach involving competences like data science, computer science, data analytics, modelling, system engineering (AI, ML), process analytical technology, communication technologies, living labs, actor-network analysis, social science/economics/business/organization, food processing, consumer behavior, socio-technical analysis, production and operations management, and extensive domain knowledge. In this way, pending agricultural innovations follows two main development pathways, namely firstly the traditional one as an incremental enabler of production efficiency and sustainability metrics, while the second one and increasingly important one is as an enabler of radical innovation and systemic changes. This latter one enables the design of new processes, new business models, and in that way function as a game-changer by changing farmer identity, farm work, farmer skills, ownership, privacy, and ethics. By adopting a systems thinking perspective, specifically digitalization benefits the entire organization or production system by improving workflows, reducing costs, and enhancing user experiences. This approach allows farmers and organizations to remain agile and adaptable, responding quickly to market changes and technological advancements.
CIGR is in a unique position to promote and facilitate this new technology development paradigm. By combining the fundamental Agricultural Biosystems Engineering capabilities with the mentioned multi-disciplinary approach, CIGR can play a pivotal role in advancing the development of pending innovations and not least promote the adoption of these innovations. A key prerequisite is to create awareness and understanding within the Agricultural Biosystems Engineering community for this paradigm shift and its implications.
Many thanks go out to Prof. Seishi Ninomiya for the excellent job he has carried out as President of CIGR for the last 2 years. His term has been focused on promoting agricultural engineers and CIGR and its activities around the world. To mention a few – 6th CIGR International Conference 2024, JEJU Island, Korea, May 2024 and XX CIGR World Congress: Sustainable Agricultural Production - Water, land, Energy and Food - together with other arrangements co-sponsored by CIGR. Prof. Seishi Ninomiya has been a keen advocate for addressing the challenges that the agri-food domain is facing and how CIGR and Biosystems Engineering contribute to meeting these challenges and create innovations. Deep felt thanks for your efforts and looking forward to the continued cooperation within the CIGR Presidium and beyond.
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering is and has been the focus of my academic endeavors and I have been involved internationally in EurAgEng, ASABE, Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists, and in CIGR in various capacities. I have always taken great pleasure and pride in working in these international organizations – it has provided motivation for my research within Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, provided me with great networking and the making of many colleagues and friends over the years. CIGR is a global organization striving to promote and advance the community of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering through a board network of regional societies involving fellow professionals all over the world creating collaborations, joint consortia, company contacts, university contacts, connect with other regional societies, etc. A key element in the operational running of a society like CIGR is an effective Secretary General and here Prof. Fedro Zazueta is a superb example of an effective and approachable secretary, and I am thankful and sincerely looking forward to the continued cooperation with him and the other members of the Presidium. Here I also want to thank my friend and outgoing Presidium member. Prof. Remigio Berruto, for his service to CIGR as President and beyond.
I see CIGR as a key player in promoting the development and researching of advanced technologies for the future of agriculture and the food system. CIGR is unique in its pursuit of a sustainable food production through the application of technology intervening with a biological production system. As such, we also need to strengthen the awareness/visibility of the uniqueness of CIGR to scientists, the public, to get young professionals involved, etc. This awareness about attracting young people is growing but we need to reinforce it.
During my time as President and beyond, I will work toward bringing CIGR forward, by sustaining traditional CIGR services to the Biosystems Engineering community, on facilitating global cooperation and networking, and specifically on promoting the strategic focus on interdisciplinarity and the systems approach in CIGR goals. The last years has seen key activities and efforts from the Technical Sections and Work Groups in promoting new scientific activities like AI and Circular Bioeconomy, to mention a few. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to all for your efforts and bringing new ideas to the table to progress CIGR.
As the year of 2025 is around the corner, I would like to wish a happy and prosperous new year to all in the CIGR community. I begin my Presidency with enthusiasm and looking forward to the cooperation with the global Biosystems Engineering community and a strong CIGR. I am convinced we are in for some exciting times.