The National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Estidamah), in collaboration with Al-Madarik Professional Company, organized today a workshop titled “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Enhancing Agricultural Productivity.” The workshop brought together a distinguished group of experts and specialists from government entities, research institutions, and the private sector to discuss the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence technologies to advance the agricultural sector, increase productivity, and enhance resource-use efficiency.
The workshop highlighted the importance of leveraging research, innovation, and modern technologies to address agricultural challenges and harness data to develop practical solutions that support decision-making. In his keynote address, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Malik Al-Malik, Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture for Research and Innovation, emphasized the importance of aligning the research and innovation ecosystem with national priorities and the needs of the agricultural sector. He noted that the challenge is no longer the availability of technology, but rather data quality, readiness, and the ability to transform technologies into practical applications that can be effectively adopted on the ground.
He explained that the Ministry’s Research and Innovation Plan seeks to strengthen integration among the various stakeholders within the ecosystem and support the development of solutions that contribute to increasing agricultural productivity and ensuring the sustainability of resources. He emphasized that innovation is not an end in itself, but rather a means of addressing national challenges and achieving tangible impact in the agricultural sector.
The workshop explored a range of artificial intelligence applications in agriculture, including data analysis and its transformation into actionable insights and predictive decisions; improving water management efficiency; forecasting yields and harvest dates; early detection of pests and plant stress; as well as the use of space technologies and remote sensing to monitor crop conditions and track land cover.
Participants also discussed the future of smart technologies in agricultural operations management, including AI agents, digital twins, and autonomous agricultural systems. These technologies offer significant potential for integrating irrigation, fertilization, energy, and labor management, while leveraging farm data to support decision-making and translate it into actionable and trackable measures.
The workshop also addressed the role of climate data in forecasting agricultural risks and providing early warnings for heat stress, frost, drought, and heavy rainfall. It further explored applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the spatial accuracy of rainfall data, thereby supporting water resource management, agricultural planning, and the assessment of risks associated with climate-related events.
The workshop forms part of Estidamah’s efforts to advance research and innovation, facilitate knowledge transfer in the agricultural sector, foster collaboration among government entities, research institutions, and the private sector, and support the adoption of artificial intelligence and modern technologies in developing data-driven agricultural solutions. These efforts contribute to increasing productivity, enhancing resource-use efficiency, and supporting the sustainability of the agricultural sector.