According to a 2015 report from the McKinsey Global Institute, agriculture is the least digitized industry; far behind healthcare, hospitality, and construction. Conquering agricultural challenges need to break through the weakest link of the food chain by using technology, with digitization as a keystone.
In recent years, technology in agriculture, which is also termed as AgTech has drastically changed the agriculture industry. The digital agribusiness is undeniably real, and it’s here to stay. Digital will play a vital role in the agricultural value chain by providing targeted information, data-driven decisions, and recommendations, access to sustainable practices and finance opportunities.
How do we do it?
Organizations must adapt to survive and thrive
People in the industry—farmers, food producers—must embrace the digital transformation trends in agriculture. By leveraging digital technology as a sustainable and scalable resource, organizations can take agriculture to new heights, keeping farm to fork in our future. The overall food production needs to double in a relatively short duration, to support the growing world population. Digitization in the agribusiness sector significantly increases the ability to feed the rapidly growing world population sustainably.
Aware but unsure
Research shows 90% of CEOs strongly believe that the digital economy will have a significant impact on the agriculture industry; however less than 15% are funding and executing on the plan.
It’s fortunate that digitization is helping to connect agricultural concerns across the globe.
But what does the future of farming look like?
A few significant AgTech trends that are shaping the agriculture industry currently:
Artificial Intelligence and robots
Agriculture is slowly becoming digital and AI in agriculture is emerging in three major categories,
(i) Agricultural robotics
(ii) Soil and crop monitoring
(iii) Predictive analytics.
AI is bringing a revolution to the agriculture sector. Farmers are using AI technologies for sowing seeds using drones, soil mapping, and commodity pricing. Robots will soon be automating many farming processes and take over tasks such as weeding, fertilizing, seeding, or pruning plants. AI helps bring down the operational costs in farms, by reducing dependence on manual labor and allows agronomic expertise to make data-driven decisions. Use of robotics helps in reducing the use of harmful chemicals and contributes towards eco-friendly practices. Soil and crop monitoring by robotics helps in early identification of pest or disease attack and helps contain the damage and treatment costs.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology will also be a focus in the coming days. It is possible to have real-time monitoring of supply chain leveraging blockchain, and there will be more transparency in agricultural transactions. It is vital for both farmers as wells as consumers: it allows farmers to negotiate better prices throughout the supply chain while enabling consumers to have confidence in the knowledge of precisely from where the produce they buy comes. It is an essential aspect when considering the growing lack of trust in the sourcing of produce sold in markets.
Analytics
The agriculture sector is innately complex with a wide variety of crops, geographic environments, and climates. This industry has always been loaded with data but scattered across various channels; however, this is changing, and organizations have started unleashing the power of data and analytics. Organizations are now working with farmers to enable them to use data to better plan seeding, management, and harvesting. By making use of sophisticated computer algorithms to evaluate decades of the crop as well as weather data, these days farmers can easily predict crop yields with surprising accuracy, before planting a single seed.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is allowing data-driven intelligent agriculture. Intelligent farming using the Internet of Things will enable farmers to reduce waste and enhance productivity significantly, ranging from the amount of fertilizer utilized to the number of journeys the farm vehicles have made. IoT can help in gathering real-time analytical data and take faster commercial decisions.
Sensors
Recent estimates indicate that in 2025 the global market value of agricultural sensors will reach 288.3 million dollars – a vast increase from its value in 2016 at 99.3 million. Farmers are increasingly using sensors and soil sampling to gather data, and this data gets stored in the farm management system that allows for better processing and analysis. Using sensors to collect data about crops – water requirements, humidity, soil temperature, etc. – is on the rise. Sensors in the field measure soil and weather conditions such as humidity, temperature, and livestock data, while sensors on farming equipment give real-time insight into yield and quality parameters.
Agribusiness leaders are learning how to leverage these technologies to:
• Increase farming efficiency
• Enhance customer experience
• Create transparent and sustainable food supply chains
• Implement new, sustainable business models
• Manage market and price volatility
• Engage with the right partners in business networks
Connect businesses to the world of agriculture, and the world of agriculture to your business
Digital technologies and analytics are transforming agriculture, making a farm’s field operations more insight-driven and efficient. Digital-based farm services are helping to improve business performance and boost yield.
Tavant has combined digital technologies such as the Internet of Things with AI capabilities, analytics and its in-depth industry knowledge to help farmers increase their productivity and profitability.
• A global digital agriculture company increased the productivity of growers and turned data into actionable insights leveraging Tavant’s AgriTech solution.
• One of America’s premier agribusiness and food companies improved processes, boosted their yield, increased profitability, and enhanced customer experience by using Tavant’s AgriTech solution.
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