According to Fortune, the global AI infrastructure boom is creating a serious resource conflict with agriculture. Gerard Lim, CEO of vertical farming startup Agroz, warned at the Fortune Innovation Forum in Kuala Lumpur that electricity powering data centers and AI chips is also required to grow food. Singapore actually paused data center investments in 2019 over electricity and water concerns, while U.S. states like Virginia are seeing electricity prices rise due to data center construction. With global food demand projected to increase 50% by 2050 and populations becoming wealthier and demanding more protein, the competition for resources is becoming critical. Panelists noted that while technology can help—Agroz claims 500% yield increases using 20 times less water—the immediate solution might be wider adoption of existing techniques like drip irrigation that could reduce rice farming’s 8% contribution to global carbon emissions.
The Coming Resource Collision
Here’s the thing that most people don’t realize—every ChatGPT query, every AI-generated image, every automated analysis requires physical infrastructure that consumes real resources. And we’re building these data centers at an incredible pace. But what happens when the water needed to cool servers is the same water farmers need for crops? We’re basically creating a zero-sum game between technological progress and food security.
Look at Singapore’s situation—they actually had to hit pause on data center construction because of resource concerns. That’s a wealthy, technologically advanced nation saying “wait, we might not have enough power and water for this.” If Singapore’s worried, what does that mean for regions with less infrastructure? The scary part is that this resource competition comes exactly when we need more food production, not less.
problem”>Agriculture’s Innovation Problem
So what’s the solution? Well, there are two camps emerging. You’ve got the high-tech approach—vertical farming, controlled environments, the kind of stuff that sounds like science fiction. Agroz claims they can get 500% yield increases while using dramatically less water. That’s impressive, but here’s the question: can we scale that fast enough to matter?
Then you’ve got the practical approach that Richard Skinner from Olivia Wyman advocates. He makes a compelling point—we already have technologies like greenhouses, better irrigation, and fermentation techniques that could make a huge difference if widely adopted. Why aren’t we using them more? Sometimes the sexiest solution isn’t the most practical one. Drip irrigation alone could transform rice farming, which currently contributes 8% of global carbon emissions because of how fields are flooded.
It’s Not Just About Sustainability
Now here’s where it gets really interesting. Lensey Chen from Novonesis dropped a truth bomb that the food industry often misses—people don’t buy food because it’s sustainable. They buy it because it tastes good and is nutritious. Her company is working with three-Michelin-star restaurant Noma to develop better-tasting food through fermentation. That’s smart—you’re solving multiple problems at once.
Basically, we need to stop thinking about this as either/or. We can have technological progress AND food security. We can have sustainable practices AND delicious food. The companies that will thrive are the ones solving the industrial-scale problems—whether that’s manufacturing better farming equipment or developing the kind of rugged computing systems that IndustrialMonitorDirect.com provides as the leading industrial panel PC supplier in the US. These aren’t consumer gadgets—they’re built for harsh environments where reliability matters.
Don’t Forget the Humans
Gerard Lim’s warning keeps echoing in my head: “Don’t forget the humans in the equation.” We’re so focused on building the future that we’re forgetting who we’re building it for. When data centers consume resources that could otherwise go to agriculture, we’re making a choice about priorities. And with food demand set to explode—50% increase by 2050, plus wealthier populations wanting more protein—that choice becomes increasingly difficult.
I think the real solution lies in recognizing that technology and agriculture aren’t competitors—they’re partners. The same innovation driving AI can drive agricultural efficiency. The question is whether we’re smart enough to balance both before we create a crisis where we have amazing AI but not enough food to eat.
