Recent applications of novel laser techniques for enhancing agricultural production

Abstract With ever increasing world population, the demands on food safety and security are also expected to substantially increase over the next few decades. As agronomic practices, agricultural mechanization and plant breeding technologies have already been extensively exploited, novel techniques need to be explored and implemented to enhance crop production. To this end, the emerging area of laser-based technologies has shown potential to bring about another revolution in enhancing quantity, quality, and safety of foods. This paper presents an exhaustive review of the use of five non-invasive non-destructive laser-based techniques in agriculture, namely laser biostimulation, light detection and ranging, laser land levelling, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Herein we provide the advantages, status quo and challenges of each of these techniques and conclude with recommendations for future work. A comprehensive review of literature reveals the untapped potential of laser applications in agriculture that has the potential to unleash the next agricultural revolution.