2025 photonics for agrifood roadmap: towards a sustainable and healthier planet

Abstract

Photonics technologies play a crucial role in driving technological advancements within the agrifood industry, aiming to deliver a sustainable food and agriculture, and offering healthy, nutritious and safe food for all of us. Particularly, optical sensors and imaging systems, together with machine-learning processing and advanced lighting, play a pivotal role in monitoring crop and soil health with unprecedented precision, while safeguarding the food supply chain. This roadmap aims to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art photonics technologies benefitting agrifood applications, including a view on their current limitations, challenges and future potential, while addressing practical case studies. Future trends towards multimodal sensors and sensor fusion, artificial intelligence and digital twins, miniaturization and controlled farming are highlighted. The revolutionizing capabilities of the photonics technologies are indicated, inspiring future applications and developments, and paving the way towards optimized resource utilization, increased crop yields, stopping land degradation and reduction of food waste.