Artificial Intelligence Applications in Date Palm Cultivation and Production: A Scoping Review

Date palm cultivation is considered one of the most important levers in the economy of many countries, especially in North Africa and the Middle East. This tree and the fruits it produces are of great importance in terms of their nutritional and medicinal value, as well as their uses in some biochemical applications. In the last decade, artificial intelligence and its applications in the field of precision agriculture constituted a fertile field for research. Consequently, the date palm sector is emerging with new and modern technologies to satisfy global sustainability standards. This article provides an overview of studies on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the date palm agriculture industry throughout the past decade (2012–2021). After applying exclusion criteria, the scoping review was constructed to answer four (4) predetermined research questions by analyzing 43 publications. Based on the defined research questions, the analysis of the examined literature included the yearly and geographical distribution of papers, the most widely adopted algorithms, and the research trends in the field of AI applications for date palm cultivation and production. Investigations have indicated that AI is underutilized in certain applications such as yield estimation and diseases and pest control and management. Nonetheless, intelligent systems using machine vision and artificial intelligence are evolving to improve the date palm agricultural industry. This article explains the importance of artificial intelligence in the date palm agricultural industry and presents insight for future study in this field.