Breakthrough in Sustainable Agriculture: Exascale Computing and AI Key to Achieving UN Goals

Strategic Insights -

Research published in a recent study has identified the critical role of exascale computing and explainable artificial intelligence in achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals through sustainable agriculture. The study, conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, highlights the need for diverse and highly skilled research groups to integrate efforts to bridge the gaps in achieving international goals. The research has been funded by several organizations, including the European Union's 7th Framework Programme and the United States Department of Energy.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study emphasizes the need for agricultural improvements using designer crop ideotypes to address human population growth and accelerated climate change.
  • The research indicates that explainable artificial intelligence (AI) and exascale computing are crucial in optimizing agricultural efforts, particularly in phenotyping and climatype associations.
  • The study has been peer-reviewed and has discussed a vision to overcome gaps between research and policy, tackling technological hurdles to solve multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
  • The research also highlights the importance of accurate phenotyping and daily-resolution climatype associations for refining ideotype production to specific environments at various levels of granularity.
  • The study mentions that Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, supported the research, and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) is also involved in funding this research.
  • The research team includes Daniel Jacobson, Jared Streich, Jonathon Romero, Joao Gabriel Felipe Machado Gazolla, David Kainer, Ashley Cliff, Erica Teixeira Prates, Gerald A. Tuskan, Michael Garvin, Antoine L. Harfouche, James B. Brown, and Sacha Khoury.

Statistics:

  • The research has been funded by the European Union's 7th Framework Programme, Plant Microbe Interface Scientific Focus Area, and the Feedstock Genomics program in the DOE's Office of Science.
  • The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, supported the research.
  • The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is also involved in funding this research.
  • The study has been peer-reviewed and published in the Current Opinion in Biotechnology journal.
  • The current study aims to overcome gaps between research and policy to tackle technological hurdles in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Sources:

  • Can Exascale Computing and Explainable Artificial Intelligence Applied To Plant Biology Deliver On the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals? Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 2020;61:217-225.
  • Current Opinion in Biotechnology can be contacted at: Current Biology Ltd, 84 Theobalds Rd, London WC1X 8RR, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Current Opinion in Biotechnology - www.journals.elsevier.com/current-opinion-in-biotechnology/)
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Doe Ctr Bioenergy Innovat, Division of Biosciences, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, United States.