The global population is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations Population Division (Nandagiri, 2023). The fast-growing population puts great pressure on agricultural production to provide suffcient and healthy food, feed and fibre. The 2023 GAP Report indicated that the increasing rate of current agricultural productivity is not high enough to meet the demands of the global population (Agnew and Hendery, 2023). However, agricultural production faces more challenges than ever due to climate change, soil degradation due to intensive agriculture and reduced arable land and natural resources. Conventional farming practices use a large amount of chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides and herbicides to increase crop production (Hedlund et al., 2020; Schreinemachers and Tipraqsa, 2012). Overusing chemical inputs in agriculture can adversely impact soil health, water quality, food safety, environment and climate change (Hendricks et al., 2019; Tian et al., 2023). For example, one study showed that the global food system accounts for about 25% of annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and heavily contributes to terrestrial acidification and global eutrophication of surface waters (Poore and Nemecek, 2018). It is critical to develop a climate-smart, efficient and sustainable agricultural production system through technological innovation.