Digital Twin and AI-Enhanced Simulation in Agricultural Systems

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Precision and Digital Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2026 | Viewed by 691

Special Issue Editors

College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Interests: modern agriculture; smart agriculture; digital twin; intelligent detection; IoT
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Guest Editor
Research Center of Intelligent Equipment, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: precision agriculture; automation; robotics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Digital twin creates dynamic virtual models of farmland, crops, and environments through high-precision modeling and real-time data synchronization via the Internet of Things (IoT), achieving high-fidelity interaction between the physical and information worlds. On the other hand, artificial intelligence techniques, including machine learning and computer vision, deeply mine multi-source heterogeneous data to empower simulation systems with autonomous learning and dynamic optimization, supporting applications such as crop water and fertilizer demand prediction, pest and disease early warning, and precision fertilization. This Special Issue explores digital twin and AI-enhanced simulation in agriculture, including multi-scale modeling of digital twins, multi-technology fusion, intelligent decision-making, and visualized simulation management. This Special Issue aims to promote precision, efficiency, and sustainability in agricultural production processes and facilitate the transition from traditional agriculture to smart agriculture.

Dr. Min Dai
Dr. Ya Xiong
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • digital twin
  • AI-enhanced simulation
  • internet of things (IoT)
  • machine learning and deep learning
  • smart agriculture

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

57 pages, 9973 KB  
Review
Digital Twin- and AI-Enabled Intelligent Optimisation Design of Agricultural Machinery: A Review
by Pengsheng Ding and Jianmin Gao
Agronomy 2026, 16(11), 1038; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16111038 - 24 May 2026
Viewed by 221
Abstract
The optimisation design of agricultural machinery is shifting from offline, experience-driven engineering towards adaptive, data-driven, and closed-loop intelligent optimisation. Conventional approaches based on computer-aided engineering (CAE), empirical testing, mathematical modelling, and static multi-objective optimisation have provided an important engineering foundation, but they remain [...] Read more.
The optimisation design of agricultural machinery is shifting from offline, experience-driven engineering towards adaptive, data-driven, and closed-loop intelligent optimisation. Conventional approaches based on computer-aided engineering (CAE), empirical testing, mathematical modelling, and static multi-objective optimisation have provided an important engineering foundation, but they remain limited under unstructured field conditions involving soil heterogeneity, crop variability, climatic disturbance, and nonlinear machinery–environment interactions. This review systematically examines the evolution of intelligent optimisation design for agricultural machinery from conventional simulation-based methods to artificial intelligence (AI)- and digital twin (DT)-enabled paradigms. First, mathematical modelling, response surface methodology, discrete element method (DEM), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), multi-body dynamics (MBD), heuristic algorithms, and early AI-assisted surrogate optimisation are reviewed to clarify their contributions and limitations. Second, frontier enabling technologies are analysed, including agriculture-specific large models, generative AI, lightweight edge intelligence, deep reinforcement learning (DRL), embodied AI, federated learning (FL), and privacy-preserving computing. Third, system-level applications integrating DT and AI are discussed, with emphasis on full-lifecycle machinery optimisation, device–edge–cloud collaborative control, multi-agent fleet coordination, predictive maintenance, and Agriculture 5.0-oriented intelligent equipment systems. Key deployment bottlenecks are further identified, including sim-to-real inconsistency, virtual–physical mismatch in DTs, edge-side trade-offs among accuracy, latency, energy consumption, and cost, insufficient validation standards, and economic adoption barriers. Finally, a 2025–2030 roadmap is proposed, highlighting large-model–DT closed loops, control biomimetics, green low-carbon optimisation, and trustworthy human–machine symbiosis for sustainable Agriculture 5.0. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Twin and AI-Enhanced Simulation in Agricultural Systems)
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