How could quantum sensing help shape a more productive, resilient and sustainable grain industry?

Authored by Isaac Covington-Groth | August 2026

Agriculture faces growing pressure from climate change, resource constraints, and evolving pests and diseases. Emerging quantum technologies could offer new ways to better understand challenges in crops, soils or agricultural environments.

At Quantum Australia’s Quantum in Agriculture event in July 2026, Professor Kishan Dholakia, grAIn Hub Adelaide University Node Lead and Director of Adelaide University’s Centre of Light for Life, discussed research in Raman spectroscopy. The technique analyses how light interacts with molecules to create a distinctive chemical fingerprint. It has already been applied to through-the-bottle fraud detection and the analysis of methanol contamination in spirits.

Because Raman spectroscopy is non-invasive, non-destructive and molecule-specific, it could support agricultural applications such as soil characterisation, detection of herbicide and pesticide residues, grain-quality assessment, and earlier identification of crop or livestock disease. Field-deployable sensing tools could also generate richer agricultural data, creating opportunities for responsible AI to turn that information into accurate, explainable and trustworthy decisions.

The ARC Research Hub in Responsible AI for a Sustainable Grain Industry (grAIn Hub) brings together researchers from the University of Technology Sydney, Adelaide University and Murdoch University, alongside industry partners. The Hub is developing responsible AI across genomic breeding, smart farming and intelligent supply chains. Combining emerging sensor data with explainable, privacy-preserving and robust AI could improve decisions from crop monitoring to grain quality, storage and logistics.

Quantum sensing is still emerging, but its convergence with responsible AI could help Australian agriculture improve productivity, sustainability and climate resilience.