Artificial intelligence and digitalisation are set to make agriculture more resilient. Against the backdrop of the tense global situation, Federal Minister for Agriculture Alois Rainer emphasised the importance of digital technologies for the agricultural sector at the Smart Country Convention 2026. “In times of increasing geopolitical conflicts and fragile global supply chains, there is renewed discussion about security of supply and resilience,” said Rainer in his keynote speech.

“Our agricultural products and our food industry constitute critical infrastructure that must be protected from external shocks.” The next Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, to be held in Berlin in January 2027, will therefore also “focus on the central role of AI and digitalisation as drivers of resilient agricultural systems”.

Robotics and AI boost resilience

Rainer emphasises that food security requires “a strong, stable agricultural and food sector that is resilient to crises and future challenges”. Automated systems and robotics could “make work processes more efficient, reduce costs and ease the burden on farmers in their day-to-day operations”. At the same time, digitalisation enables farms to operate more efficiently and in a more resource-efficient manner. In doing so, it increases “the resilience of our entire agriculture and food sector”.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture will therefore provide funding of up to ten million euros for research projects in automation and robotics from next year onwards.

Digital opportunities for rural regions

According to Rainer, digital innovations also open up “enormous opportunities for our rural regions as a whole”. As Minister for Agriculture, Food and Regional Affairs, he wants to strengthen rural regions not only as places of value creation and employment, but also as places to live and relax. They should remain an attractive, sustainable home for many people.

“We urgently need more cooperation”

Digital innovations could also strengthen social cohesion within regions – “and social cohesion in particular is indispensable, especially in times like these: we urgently need more cooperation and less conflict.”

In this sense, the Smart Country Convention is “a genuine marketplace of opportunities” that brings high-tech to local regions and “a trade fair brimming with genuine enthusiasm for ideas that make our lives easier”.