Digitisation and digitalisation have transformed many industries and disrupted many business models. Despite being one of the oldest industries, farming was the last to get disrupted by technology. Better late than never, innovation and technology now play a significant role in technology too. Technology companies are receiving a lot of seed funding and venture capital too, to bring more innovation to the farming field.
Some of the emerging technologies that are changing farming for good are big data, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, sensor farming, and precision farming. The demand for technology companies is set to grow as more farmers are now embracing change and technology. Let’s see in details as to how technology is making farmers’ lives easier:
- Precision farming
It is one of the technologies that farmers have learnt to embrace. It makes use of GPS satellites to get real-time data to make calculated decisions on when to fertilise and what crop and grow which crop and at which season. Australia and the United States of America are the leading countries that use precision farming at large. Almost 80% and 70% of the farmers use precision farming in Australia and the US respectively. Precision farming also helps in cutting down water wastage and makes sure farmers don’t under-spray as well.
- Blockchain
Blockchain has the ability to track records and secure ownership. This is very helpful in eradicating food fraud, inefficiencies in the supply chain, and improve traceability of food. The decentralised structure of blockchain allows premium products to find a place of their own in the premium market and get the reward that it is worthy of. The reason blockchain being such a hit in the food industry is because of the vulnerability of the entire industry and blockchain makes it sturdy. It creates a vast ledger of data with all the sources making traceability much easier. We all know traceability ensures transparency and it is much required in this industry.
- Artificial Intelligence
The rise of usage of technology has given way for more data generation. The overwhelming amount of data generated from GPS and remote sensors 24 hours a day need to be processed. It is imperative that the data should be analysed to make sense of the numbers and to make informed decisions. AI allows farmers to understand what is happening in the field with the help of the data gathered through remote sensors. Unprocessed data will not make any sense to the layman. The AI algorithms thoroughly parse the gathered data and give out statistical information which can be of great use.
- Sensor tech
Remote monitoring is very well possible now, thanks to sensor technology. Sensors are connected to the internet and broadcasts information. This technology is highly useful for the farmers and is highly influential in making the right decision. It gives out information such as soil fertility, acidity, nutrition levels, water levels and retention. Sensor tech will also help in precise fertiliser spraying, seeding, water spraying, etc. It is going to be an inevitable part of farming in the near future.
