Innovation and research has had a transformative impact on the agribusiness sector during the last decade, with tech advances paving the way for sustainable and energy-efficient processes that have drastically improved yield and quality. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has forecast an exponential rise in the global demand for food by 2050, and tech and innovation will be key to helping feed the predicted 9.15 billion mouths in existence by that time.
While humanitarian issues are a pressing concern for the agricultural business sector, in the short term, innovators are also focused on driving efficiency and revenue by streamlining and optimizing operations across the entire business chain. The costs of produce are on the rise across the globe, due to an increase in the prices of machinery, fertilizers, farm chemicals and other inputs, such as water. Research and development is key to offsetting these business costs and empowering countries worldwide to provide sufficient, safe and healthy local produce.
Tech advances
Jai Shorff has been a notable figure in agribusiness, as his enterprise has been at the forefront of innovative global crop protection products. UPL Limited delivers plant nutrition, quality seeds and other vital products to help strengthen food security in countries across the globe. The UK is also leading the way with a wealth of heavily funded research and development projects, such as Agri-Tech Catalyst, which aims to get new tech to market more quickly, and the £90 million (US$111 million) Centre for Agricultural Innovation, which helps to translate world-leading tech into commercial opportunities.
Precision agriculture is an area of crop management that has seen an abundance of tech innovations in recent years, and the new tools are now becoming more widely accessible. For example, a new handheld device called the GreenSeeker is enabling farmers to make definitive assessments on fertilizer requirements by determining the relationship between the nitrogen status and light reflectance of a plant. Facilities in Mexico are using the tool with a GPS-equipped sensor for nitrogen application on wheat, while scientists in South Asia and Ethiopia are also evaluating its use for driving profitability and reducing groundwater pollution. The device can also be used on tractors.
Global innovations
While tech has already changed the face of the agribusiness sector, bigger innovations could be on the horizon as artificial intelligence, drones and robotics are all being geared up to meet some of the most pressing issues facing agriculture today. Experts at KMS Projects and Vegetable Harvesting Systems (VHS) are currently in the formative stages of developing robots that can notify famers when a cauliflower is harvest ready, using Infravision and scanner technology.
In the UAE, farmers can already deploy VRT drones that feature advanced flight planning software for the evaluation of crop conditions. This enables farmers to adopt incredibly accurate fertilization strategies that cover large areas easily, reduce the reliance on fertilizers and boost yields in the process. The drone tech is important for Dubai as it currently imports 98 percent of its produce and is aiming to be become entirely self-sufficient by 2030. The US can learn from the very best schemes and innovation abroad to drive agribusiness changes closer to home.