If you've ever tried to ripen a piece of fruit by sticking it in a bag with a banana, you've harnessed the power of ethylene.

There has probably never been a time when food (at least in the developed world) has been safer. And yet there has probably never been a time when consumers in Europe are more concerned about what they eat and how it has been produced.

Australian startup thingc Robotics expects to deliver its first commercial agricultural robot in 18 months.

An Israeli startup hopes to disrupt the vegan food market by developing 3D printing technology that will be able to produce meat substitutes using plant-based formulations, saying the final product very closely resembles the experience of consuming natural meat. Its founder says it has “replicated… the complex matrix that is meat.”

Any type of technical advancement always involves extra costs. If these investments don’t pay off in the long term, digitisation is no more than an expensive hobby.

Australian startup Growave will soon start trials using microwave technology to manage and control weeds.