The Role of Digital Advances in Agricultural Systems

The evolution of technical means has grown by several stages based on innovative development of scientific and technological advances. The significant modernization of production means in paradigm Economy 4.0 provides integration of mechanization, automation and information systems into a unified digital platform. Being one of the most important production factors, machinery and equipment determine economic capacity of agricultural systems. In addition to material resources there are substantial creators’ intellectual potential and information technologies in modern automation and robotic facilities. Innovative machinery and equipment should be determined as a productive economic system that includes a set of material potential, intellectual potential and a digital tool combining them. The purpose of the study is to identify periods and patterns of innovative technical means formation as the technical foundation of social production based on the rationale of the essence and trends of the scientific and technological progress implementation, and its development vectors. We offer the classification of the identified digital solutions by branches of agricultural systems. The idea that science being the theoretical basis for updating technology should meet modern market requirements has been confirmed. By means of monographic, comparative and abstract-logical methods it has been found that the pace of scientific and technological progress determines the current state of technical means and systems, and contributes to production digitalization. Conceptual proposals for improvement patterns of technical production means have been made.