Digital Twin for Horticulture Farm: Concept and Requirements [Instrumentation and Measurement Systems]

Horticulture farms are currently facing increased complexity of procedures. Optimization of various processes that increase productivity is currently possible with Information and Communication Technologies. However, their adoption continues to be low. The main barriers for their adoption are perceived unfriendly interfaces, high financial and human resource costs, as well as farmers' low levels of knowledge of their potential benefits [1]. As an emerging technology, the Digital Twin (DT) is becoming a key component in the strategic plans of different industries that target the development of intelligent control systems, fault diagnosis, the prediction of system or process outcomes, and the intelligent prescription of intervention(s) in different conditions of an object or system's environment. Digital Twin for Horticulture Farms (DTHF) may provide a user-friendly interface, an information system able to be tailored to farm needs, and a large amount of data on plants varieties and the conditions for higher yields. However, the concept of Digital Twin for Agriculture is not comprehensively understood, and neither are the requirements for application in different sectors of agriculture. The purpose of the present review is to synthetize the knowledge on DT technology that may enable organization of tools for measurements and virtual representation of relevant data into DTHF. This knowledge is a step for further standardization of DTHF that would facilitate and simplify the DTHF development.