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Rising demand for bigger yields and higher environmental protection has put pressure on the agricultural sector to “produce more with less”. Smart farming or “farming 4.0.” could hold the key.
In Europe, Precision Agriculture (PA) and the integration of digital technology are set to become the most influential trends in the sector, as a growing number of farmers start to adopt digital technologies to run their businesses.
According to the machinery industry in Europe, 70 to 80% of new farm equipment sold now has some form of PA component technology inside. There are 4,500 manufacturers, producing 450 different machine types with an annual turnover of €26 billion. The sector also employs 135,000 people.
I don't write about agriculture very often although it is very close to my heart as I was a gentlemen farmer in my teenage years.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
Agriculture accounts for only 2% of workforce but 100% of the planet depends on it for its survival. Disrupting agriculture with digital technology may have the impact that genetic manipulations and fertilizers, with much less side effects. Moreover, digital agriculture transforms the lives of farmers themselves, turning them more into information workers surrounded by big data and robots than manure shovels and sunburns. And that is a good thing.