Farming is considered to be an old-fashioned and closed-off industry. Although being absolutely essential for our food supplies, farming is not yet technology-intensive in many parts of the world, innovations are only being implemented at a slow pace and farms are often even treated as major environmental polluters. With an ever-growing global population and louder calls for global sustainability efforts in all parts of product supply chains, there is a lot of technological progress to be made in agriculture.
AgTech can be defined as the implementation of new technologies in agriculture to improve crop yields and productivity and to improve the efficiency of food supply chains. Technologies like mobile applications, digital mapping and sensors have already been integrated into our daily lives, but the interconnectivity these technologies have brought to agriculture is new and is currently redefining the industry (PWC, 2016)
An often-used form of AgTech is called precision farming, in which technology is used to assist in strategic decision making on farms. GPS, field sensors, software and robotics are all integrated in the farming process to enable farmers to determine the optimal action required for each square meter, instead of each field in its entirety (WUR, 2020). With this, more crops can be grown while making use of less resources and land. These technologies have also enabled the rise of automation in agriculture, which has in turn increased reliability and efficiency at farm level, while reducing the need for human intervention (Springer, 2009).
Technological advancements can also enhance traceability in our food supply chains. Traceability builds on disruptive technologies like blockchain, IoT, RFID tags and big data and forms a basis to address issues in food supply chains. For example, faulty food products can be recalled quicker, while these also allow customers to gain more insights in where their food comes from and how sustainably it was grown (World Economic Forum, 2019).
Urban farming, an up-and-coming form of agriculture, is less related to improving efficiency but perfectly addresses the problem of fast-paced urbanization. Urban farming does not only increase food production for urban communities, but it is also a hub of agricultural innovation and positive sustainable change and social impact (Agritecture, 2020).
Even with the progress that has already been made, AgTech is still in its early days. Nevertheless, the potential of technology in agriculture is starting to get unveiled. To conclude, I believe that technological advancements made in agriculture are one of the only ways we will be able to feed the growing world population without depleting the earths resources at the rate we do now.
References
PWC. (2016). Understanding the AgTech Ecosystem. PWC. https://www.pwc.nl/nl/assets/documents/understanding-the-agtech-ecosystem.pdf
WUR. (2020). Precision agriculture – Smart Farming. Wageningen University & Research. https://www.wur.nl/en/Dossiers/file/dossier-precision-agriculture.htm
Edan Y., Han S., Kondo N. (2009). Automation in Agriculture. Springer Handbook of Automation. Springer Handbooks.
Bridgnell H., (2020). The real value of urban agriculture. Agritecture. https://www.agritecture.com/blog/2020/4/1/the-real-values-of-urban-agriculture
World Economic Forum (2019). Innovation with a Purpose: Improving Traceability in Food Value Chains through Technology Innovations. World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Traceability_in_food_value_chains_Digital.pdf
Thank you for the insightful post Lennard! It is really quite quizzical that while agriculture is vital for our survival, it is often an overlooked industry in the technology sector. I am especially intrigued by the use of blockchain in the supply chain. Perhaps it can be applied to more than food traceability to include both ethical and environmental factors. There is definitely a lot of potential in this field and many opportunities for improvement through technology.
Really interesting article! The scientific evidence about the relationship between sustainability, climate change and food, is new but rapidly growing. The agricultural sector is one of the most polluting sector. Additionally, as you mention in your article, while most farmland is used to grow food at the cost of ecological health and diversity, alternative ways of growing food exist. Ecological agriculture is all about minimizing inputs in terms of energy and disruption, while fostering the richness and diversity of life in and above the soil in order to produce all kinds of valuable products such as food, medicine, materials and fuel. As an energy-positive production method which ensures resources for (human) life, ecological agriculture is an exemplary form of sustainable action and thought. I believe that innovation in the agriculture sector will help it become more sustainable.
Thank you for your interesting blog post Lennard. I do share your opinion that technological advancements made in agriculture are one of the only ways we will be able to feed the growing world population without depleting the earths resources at the rate we do now. As you mentioned, technologies such as precision farming, urban farming, and the use of blockchain, IoT are growing in importance. However, what I found very insightful, is that there is not a lack of innovation in the agriculture sector, there is a lack of innovation success. The adoption rate of those new technologies in agriculture is very slow. There is a too narrow diffusion of sustainable innovations throughout the economy and society, which creates a too slow pace to solve the challenges of climate change.