Preface: Proceedings of the 2nd International Online Conference on Agriculture (IOCAG 2023) ^†

This conference volume presents the proceedings of the 2nd International Online Conference on Agriculture—Research Achievements and Challenges (IOCAG2023) held on 1–15 November 2023. The conference mainly focused on research achievements and challenges in crop production, farm animal production, and crop protection.

Agriculture was a major development in human history, leading to the rise of civilizations. It plays a critical role in human society, serving as the backbone of economic systems. Modern agriculture provides the raw materials for food and many industrial products, including textiles. Over the years, significant scientific and technological advances in agriculture have led to large increases in agricultural productivity and a reduction in environmental impacts. Nevertheless, agricultural systems of the future face huge challenges in balancing and optimizing productivity and profitability against the stewardship of ecosystems and natural resources. This conference aimed to provide an online open forum for agricultural scientists and engineers to discuss these challenges and share their latest research achievements in agricultural science and technology. The topics of the conference were organized around the following sessions:

S1.

Ecosystem, Environment and Climate Change in Agriculture;

S2.

Agricultural Systems and Management;

S3.

Agricultural Soils;

S4.

From Field to Consumers: Challenges and Approaches to High-Quality Agricultural Products;

S5.

Agricultural Water Management;

S6.

Artificial Intelligence for Advanced Analyses in Agriculture;

S7.

Breeding for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification in a Changing World;

S8.

Climate-Smart Agriculture: Practices, Determinants, Productivity and Efficiency;

S9.

Crop Production;

S10.

Poster Session.

In the live session program, the following invited speakers presented insights into recent developments and future prospects:

• Professor Rodomiro Ortiz, Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.
• Dr. Filippo Bassi, International Centre for the Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, BIGM, Morocco.
• Dr. Ramesh Vetukuri, Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden.

All session chairs are recognized for leading the efforts to organize the sessions and facilitating discussion and the exchange of ideas during the sessions. The expert referees who reviewed all the papers submitted to the conference are gratefully acknowledged for making sure the professional and scientific standards of the journal were thoroughly met by the researchers who made presentations at the conference. All participants are acknowledged for attending the conference and for their valuable contributions to it.