“AgriTech & Plantation 5.0: Innovations, Sustainability, and Value Chain–Driven Business Strategies Shaping the Future of Agribusiness”*

Call for Papers – Special Issue: “AgriTech & Plantation 5.0: Innovations, Sustainability, and Value Chain–Driven Business Strategies Shaping the Future of Agribusiness”*

Journal: British Food Journal
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Submission deadline: 1 May 2026

This special issue explores how digital innovation, sustainability, and value‑chain‑driven strategies are reshaping the agribusiness and plantation sectors in the face of climate change, environmental degradation, and market volatility. It invites interdisciplinary, empirical, and policy‑oriented research on AgriTech and Plantation 5.0, emphasising inclusive, climate‑resilient, and technology‑enabled agribusiness systems that work for smallholders, processors, traders, and consumers.

Why this issue matters

• The agri‑ and plantation sectors face soil degradation, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse‑gas emissions, which are being tackled through regenerative agriculture, climate‑smart practices, and circular‑food‑system approaches.

• At the same time, digital tools (remote sensing, AI, IoT, blockchain, robotics, and digital platforms) are helping to boost productivity, traceability, transparency, and financial inclusion across agri‑value chains.

• The special issue focuses on smallholders and vulnerable communities, where environmental stress and low technology access intersect with changing consumer demand, sustainability standards, and global trade rules.

Key themes and research topics

Contributions may cover (but are not limited to):

• Sustainability and climate resilience

  • Precision farming, climate‑smart practices, soil health and bio‑innovations, water conservation, and greenhouse‑gas‑reduction strategies in agribusiness and plantations.

• AgriTech and smart technologies

  • Use of AI, machine learning, IoT, robotics, and automation in farm and plantation management, logistics, and agri‑marketing.

• Supply‑chain transparency and traceability

  • Blockchain and digital platforms for supply‑chain transparency, food safety, certification, and post‑harvest‑loss reduction.

• Value‑chain transformation and business models

  • Innovations in agri‑business value chains, export‑oriented and high‑value‑food‑markets, integration of e‑commerce and direct‑marketing channels, and emergence of circular and sustainable agri‑business models.

• Finance, risk, and inclusion

  • Financial inclusion for smallholder farmers, innovative financing and risk‑management tools, climate‑related risk pricing, and impact of tariff barriers, trade wars, and policy shocks.

• Market dynamics and consumer behaviour

  • Changing consumer demand and health‑conscious buying, trends in agri‑trade and export diversification, and branding, labelling, and value‑added‑agribusiness strategies.

• Stakeholder collaboration and governance

  • Role of farmers, FPOs, NGOs, logistics firms, Fintech, and government in co‑designing technology‑enabled, inclusive, and sustainable agri‑value chains.

Guest editors

• Dr Shreya Pal, IIPMB, India

• Dr Suresh Chandra Babu, CGIAR, India

• Dr Giray Gozgor, University of Bradford, UK

• Dr Gopal Naik, IIM Bangalore, India

Submission details

• Submission platform: ScholarOne Manuscripts for British Food Journal:
  https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bfj

• Submission deadline: 1 May 2026

• Manuscripts must be original and not under consideration elsewhere, and must follow the journal’s Author Guidelines.

• The issue is particularly interested in empirical, policy‑relevant, and practice‑oriented work from agribusiness, agri‑economics, sustainable‑food‑systems, and innovation‑management scholars.

This SI is ideal for agri‑business researchers, food‑system specialists, agricultural economists, and sustainability‑oriented management scholars who want to explore how AgriTech and Plantation 5.0 can drive inclusive, sustainable, and competitive agribusiness futures.

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