The agriculture industry plays a vital role in providing food, fuel, and fiber for the global population. It not only sustains human life but also contributes significantly to the economy of many countries. However, the industry faces several challenges, including limited resources and growing demands to reduce agriculture’s environmental impact while increasing agriculture’s climate resilience. With a growing world population, the demand for food continues to rise, putting pressure on available resources such as arable land, water, and energy. The changing climate exacerbates these challenges by leading to unpredictable weather patterns, extreme temperatures and natural disasters affecting crop yields and livestock. To ensure food security and sustainability in the face of these challenges, the agriculture industry must swiftly innovate and adapt to more efficient and resilient farming practices, embracing new technologies and promoting sustainability throughout the process. 

In the 2025 Blue Skies Competition, teams will conceptualize novel aviation systems that can be applied to agriculture by 2035 or sooner with the goal of improving production, efficiency, environmental impact, and extreme weather/climate resilience. Teams are encouraged to consider high-potential technologies and systems that aren’t currently mainstream or highly regarded as becoming mainstream in the future and imagine beyond applying sensors to aviation systems.  

NASA Aeronautics is dedicated to expanding its efforts to assist commercial, industry, and government partners in advancing novel aviation systems that could modernize aviation capabilities in agriculture as the industry adjusts to changes in productivity, efficiency, environmental impacts, and extreme weather/climate. Capabilities and opportunities for improvement include, but are not limited to: