PHOTO: JAN WILLEM SCHOUTEN
PHOTO: AFP
more general G20 economic summit. As of the last meeting, this group has itself adopted an “Agroecosystem Living Labs” approach. AAFC spokespeople say the meeting also serves to make up for domestic funding and capacity challenges in agricultural research; meaning, it’s easier for us to discover someone else already has an answer than re-learning it ourselves. My family is not large. Our farm and farm-busi- ness budget is similarly sized. We, like the gov- ernments that represent us, do not have enough time or money to invest in practices and technologies that don’t work. Who knows – maybe a discovery made in Australia will save me money one day.
Farmers are supposed to be directly involved with the design, and on-farm evaluation, of new and existing agricultural practices and technologies.
4 ways big data analytics are transforming agriculture
F BY OFIR SCHLAM
orecasters project that the global agri- culture analytics market will spike from $ 585 million in 2018 to $ 1.236 billion
(€ 1.1 billion) in 2023. What’s fuelling the de- mand? More and more farmers will embrace data-driven solutions like AI and machine learning for their ability to aggregate trends, track supplies, assess risk and reward, generate predictive models, and increase yields. Here’s a look at four ways data analytics are already transforming agriculture. 1) Boosting productivity and innovation With global food demand set to surge almost twofold by 2050, it will be incumbent upon farm- ers and agricultural suppliers to harness data and innovation to improve productivity. Armed with big data farmers are gaining unprecedented visi- bility into their operations. The payoff can be tre- mendous: a study found that ending nutrient overuse, combined with sustainable intensifica- tion, could increase production by 30%. 2) Managing environmental challenges Climate change and other environmental chal- lenges rank amongst the biggest threats to ag- ricultural productivity, but data-driven farming
With precision farming, farmers can continuously monitor crop health and other natural events, and predictive analytics can even alert farmers to likely problems with pests or disease.
can help make it easier for farmers to navigate shifts in environmental conditions. 3) Cost savings and business opportunities The agriculture industry stands to gain big from data-driven farming. Smarter farming practices could generate $ 2.3 trillion in cost savings and business opportunities annually – and $ 250 billion of those yearly savings could come from AI and data analytics alone. 4) Better supply chain management The agricultural supply chain is slated to see some of the most transformative impacts of
precision agriculture technologies like data an- alytics. Farmers will have an easier time tracing their products throughout the supply chain, while retailers, distributors, and other key stakeholders will be better equipped to tailor their product offerings and services. That’s the benefit of precision agriculture and data-driven farming: It doesn’t just make farm- ers smarter, more productive, and more effi- cient. It’s on course to reshape the entire agri- cultural economy – and to help feed billions of people in the process.
▶ FUTURE FARMING | 27 August 2019 47
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