Agriculture’s future is a key subject for planners and all other stakeholders. Today the Indian government and industry bodies are attempting to address agricultural concerns by adopting different ways. Companies that were ready to alter and update with the ongoing technological developments rebounded the fastest.
Advances in technologies like Big Data, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, IoT, and AI have given farmers new ways to redistribute labor, lower costs, and boost profits. Data has today become increasingly important in agriculture. Early adopters maintained their lead when the pandemic pressure increased in the year 2020 and 2021.
As we start to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we may expect these technological advances to continue. Here are the top agritech trends to keep an eye on in 2022 and beyond.
- Autonomous and semi-autonomous Agricultural Machinery:
Autonomous and semi-autonomous agricultural machinery will enhance harvesting accuracy and reduce crop losses. Agronomists will be able to focus on more analytical activities as a result of autonomous technologies, which will greatly lessen the pressure on human labor.
- Data Integration and Digital Farming
Farmers may meet customer demand for transparency by using digital tools to provide buyers with particular information about how their food is grown and where it comes from. This traceability is especially beneficial for crops that must meet strict organic or non-GMO quality requirements.
Furthermore, computerized tools can assist in determining how, where, and what to plant in order to maximize harvests. Through supply management, it can help prevent certain crop shortages. Europe’s Copernicus program, for example, uses satellite data to track changes in land use and crop development on a weekly basis. Crop production forecasting and early crop scarcity warnings, as well as other data, are provided by the program. The platform is free and open to anyone who wants to utilize it.
- Next-Generation Internet Connection:
The latest generation of internet connections provides new opportunities for farmers. They will be able to connect more devices and machines in areas where wireless Internet access is currently inaccessible due to a lack of coverage. In addition, data from them will be collected on a continual basis, allowing them to acquire real-time insights from farms all over the world.
- Sustainable Development & Biodiversity:
Machine Learning-based solutions can assist farmers in achieving their objectives. Precision farming equipment that is data-driven, for example, can detect nutrient deficits in a field and alert agronomists. Farmers can treat only the afflicted regions, saving money on fertilizer and reducing the number of unnecessary chemicals in the soil. Data-driven solutions can instruct agronomists on what crops to cultivate in which seasons to reduce soil depletion and ensure long-term use in terms of biodiversity.
- Satellite Imagery:
Sentinel-2, Planet, Pleiades, and DigitalGlobe are satellites that offer near-real-time high-resolution photographs of the Earth’s surface in several spectral bands. Data-driven solutions can instruct agronomists on what crops to cultivate in which seasons to reduce soil depletion and ensure long-term use in terms of biodiversity.
- IoT Devices:
The amount of data collected in the fields and from agricultural equipment is simply too large to be manually handled. Sensor manufacturers are concentrating their efforts on creating hardware and software ecosystems that will provide customers with a comprehensive IoT experience, including data analysis utilizing AI and machine learning.
Conclusion
India is in an excellent position to increase its traditional agricultural segments, which have a tendency to work at a faster rate, thanks to its rising population. Technological advancement has provided ample opportunity for the agrarian division to modernize and advance, as well as to get the greatest benefit from the widening range of farming fares that have emerged as a result of the economy’s acceptance of globalization.
(Sanjay Borkar is CEO & Founder at FarmERP and the views expressed in this article are his own)
