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What is AgTech?
AgTech, also known as Agricultural Technology or Agrotechnology, is the application of technology to agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture to help increase yield, efficiency, and profitability.
AgTech can refer to products, services, or applications derived from agriculture and improve different input/output processes.
AgTech adoption and development are critical to Australia's agricultural supply chain's profitability and responsiveness.
Primary producers are some of the most efficient on the globe and have a long history of innovating to feed, clothe, and protect the growing population. For agriculture to be competitive and productive, it must adopt transformational strategies to keep up with the changing economic, natural, and social environment.
Is there an opportunity within the AgTech industry?
AgTech is a global opportunity and is expected to be worth up to US$189 billion between 2013-2022. The National Farmers Federation predicts that this figure will almost double the sector's value by 2030.
So it begs the question: What will drive growth within Australia's agriculture industry?
The global food demand is expected to rise by 60% by 2060, with a rising middle class, especially in the Asia Pacific, moving from a simple diet to one that's much higher in the kind of agriculturally-intensive foods in which Australia specialises.
The domestic market is also growing in demand for locally-grown, sustainable food. Australia is a well-known brand with strong trade relations with these emerging markets. It presents an excellent opportunity to create technologies that will make a difference in the economy's bottom line and help rural Australia reap the economic benefits from the digital technology revolution.
These changing demands are being met by the challenge of decreasing natural resources and rising costs of energy, labour, fertiliser, seeds, and herbicide costs.
These shifting demands and increasing challenges present an opportunity for Agtech adoption and growth.
Society is at a point where technology adoption in agriculture is not just a nice to have, it’s a necessity. It is not possible to double the amount of farmland; Australia's landmass is already utilised for agriculture in just half of it, with much of the remainder being inhospitable or barren. The predicted 85% of sector growth would require increased yields and higher cropping intensity. This kind of production growth is impossible without technology.
AgTech investment opportunities in Australia:AgTech leadership
AgTech is a potential leading source in technological manufacturing, exporting high-tech products to a global market hungry for innovative solutions to meet the growing demand for food. Australia's high-tech exports grew by 44.3%, which equates to USD 1.44 billion between 2009 and 2014. The percentage of high-tech exports as a whole rose from 11.9% up to 13.6% during the same time.
Eliminating food wastage
AgTech can play a crucial role in reducing Australia's food waste by ensuring fresh produce is available. We currently waste four million tonnes, or $8 billion of produce, each year. AgTech can reduce the impact of herbicides on farms and waterways by allowing Farmers to work out the best ways to take a regenerative approach. The Australian agricultural industry is stung with around $1.5 billion per year using industrialised methods. Weeds also account for $2.5 Billion in lost production.
What are some of the current technologies driving AgTech?Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence refers to various technologies that enable machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. This includes machine learning, speech recognition, robotics. A common use in agriculture includes AI powered technologies for remote monitoring of crops.
AI, machine learning (ML), and IoT sensors provide real-time data to algorithms, which increase agricultural efficiency, improve crop yields, and lower food production costs.
Augmented Reality (AR)
This technology overlays a computer-generated image onto a user's real-world view in real-time. AR can be used in agriculture to monitor and support decision-making and training.
AR allows farmers to visualise their entire farm from one dashboard. They can also monitor production quality and spot any insect or pest infestations.
AR can help new farmers get used to agricultural equipment, which can minimise the risk of serious accidents.
Autonomy
This technology is able to function without the need for instructions.
Autonomous agriculture allows equipment like tractors to run without the need for a human driver. To gain an advantage in the global marketplace, more farmers are turning to autonomous agriculture technology.
Advanced technology is used in autonomous farming, and multiple systems must be installed in parallel to achieve maximum efficiency. The following systems are examples of such systems:
Soil sensors
Sensors are installed on farms to monitor soil and crop health. Sensors can also be used to monitor weather changes and adjust water and nutrients amounts.
Autonomous Tractors are similar to sensors. They allow farmers to move around freely and maintain seeding, soil, crops, and other farm equipment. Based on input from farmers or sensor data, an autonomous tractor will distribute fertiliser and seeds in the most needed areas.
GNSS
Global Navigation Satellite Systems is essential for autonomous agriculture. A GNSS tracks agricultural equipment's driving patterns and location and monitors poorer crops.
Big Data
Large data sets that are too complicated for traditional data processing and analysis. One example of big data is weather prediction models and tools like the Bureau of Meteorology or the Queensland Government's Long Paddock.
The use of technology and information to generate valuable data for farmers is what Big Data in agriculture means. Big data can provide useful information to the entire agricultural industry or help with specific areas or segments of the industry.
Big data mechanics is a tool that includes many modern systems, such as machine learning statistics, artificial intelligence, and database systems.
Big data plays a crucial role in the advancement of agriculture. Due to rising food insecurity and an unstable environment, the current pressures on this sector are enormous.
Farmers can now make informed decisions about different aspects of their farming using big data analytics, IoT devices, and cloud computing.
Farmers can use the data to solve specific problems on their farms, with the ultimate goal of increasing the farmer's operational efficiency.
Blockchain
It is a distributed, secure database and digital ledger that allows value to be recorded permanently. This ever-growing list of chronologically arranged records is accepted using a method of consensus and protected by cryptography.
This "value" does not only apply to monetary transactions. It also applies to assets and property titles, rights to songs, votes, and even an individual's identity. An example of this is a blockchain for agricultural commodities, in which the entire supply chain can be seen and interacted with. To improve efficiency and increase confidence, blocks store unique information about transactions in the supply chain.
For example, blockchain agriculture allows for the traceability and management of information throughout the food supply chain, which improves food safety. Blockchain's ability to store and manage data enables traceability, which is helpful in facilitating the development of innovative farming methods and index-based insurance.
Cloud Computing
Accessing the power of shared storage over the internet via connected servers, software, and databases. Email, financial software, and other services. Cloud computing is a way to combine data from different tools such as soil sensors, satellite images, and weather stations. This technology gives farmers more significant control over nature's forces, such as weather patterns, unpredictable seasons, and precipitation levels.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Because they can save money and time, today's farmers use advanced agriculture technology such as GIS. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are an extremely useful tool for farmers as crops are location-based.
A computer system that stores, displays, and checks data relative to locations on the Earth's surface. It can create a visual representation of data and perform spatial analysis to allow for informed decisions. GIS can be used to automate precision agriculture, such as applying and monitoring fertilisers and seeds.
To save fertiliser, farmers can use precision GPS in their fields. Satellites and drones also collect weather and topography information from the skies.
All of this data can be utilised to create agriculture maps that can help you make better decisions.
Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
Satellite-based navigation systems that use orbiting satellites to determine your location on Earth are used in precision agriculture to automate tractor steering.
Intelligent Apps
Artificial intelligence and machine-learning often powers intelligent apps, which allows for rich, personalised, and adaptive user experiences. The I-Apps can learn from the users' input to deliver a rich experience, thanks to the power of AI.
Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT is a collective term for all physical devices, including digital and mechanical tools that collect and share data over networks, and includes weather stations and livestock tracking. IoT innovative agriculture solutions are systems that monitor the crop field using sensors (light, humidity, and temperature), as well as soil moisture and automating the irrigation system. Farmers can remotely monitor field conditions.
Robotics
These are technologies that can replace human activities, for example, automated robotic harvesters that have the capability to pick up harvestable fruits and vegetables.
Sensors
An instrument that includes hardware or software that can detect or measure changes in the environment and present data to support decision-making regarding agricultural assets. This information can provide benefits such as increased crop yields and lower livestock mortality, automation of farm operations, and labour cost savings. Sensors can measure soil moisture and nutrition, weather data, and water storage levels.
Virtual Reality (VR)
An interactive computer-generated environment that provides visual and auditory feedback. Many times, users are wearing goggles in a 3-dimensional, computer-generated environment. This virtual reality can be utilised in agriculture to improve farm safety, industry productivity, and biosecurity.
5G Technology
Fifth-generation mobile builds on the existing 4G network but has faster connection speeds and shorter delays. 5G allows more people to use the same network and the same speeds.
What next for AgTech?
In conclusion, we are at an important crossroads here; Agriculture should be an industry thriving in Australia, but increasing challenges put pressure on all stakeholders. Technology has the potential to enable the right tools, support, and capability to make inroads against these pressures. In order to achieve this however, there is a need for greater investment into innovation, and a broader awareness across the wider economy to help Australian farmers thrive in this dynamic, challenging and evolving global market.
Agriculture is the least digitised industry in the world, but is most exposed to dual threats like weather and market fluctuations, which non-Agricultural sectors are only generally exposed to one threat like markets. Agtech in general is making significant in-roads to overcome this issue and provide tangible solutions.
After COVID-19 there is a renewed interest in Agriculture, food production and sustainability.
