Agriculture is one of the workforces intensive practices where farmers work tirelessly to ramp up the production of crops.
Like other industries, the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the agriculture sector too, where the agro practices had shifted to an all-new digitized way, unlike earlier, when it used to be manual.
According to recent research, the market value of smart agriculture will reach USD 20 Billion in 2026. This surge in innovative agricultural practices is attributed to the rising need for digital farming practices.
Another research suggests that factors such as the rising need for smart agro practices are fuelling the Ag Tech market.
The impact of smart agriculture is quite positive not only on the yield but also on the environment where sustainable farming activities have come to the forefront of agriculture. The agriculture sector has long faced several challenges ranging from climate change to water scarcity.
Without the right tools and knowledge, productivity gets hampered, and farmers are left counting losses.
With the Ag Tech in place, technology provides an unprecedented opportunity to improve yields and mitigate some of the losses associated with the various challenges in the agricultural sector.
Technology adoption is increasing rapidly due to the tremendous value it brings to the farmers, enabling them to drive productivity.
However, the below-mentioned advantages add value to the Ag Tech practices:
1. Detection of disease and pests:
Using satellite imagery and drones, smart and precision agriculture is adding value to farming through hyperspectral imaging used to detect diseases, and pest.
The real-time information enables farmers to mitigate losses that may result from diseases and pests, thus improving yields.
2. Cooling facilities:
Farm produce needs to get to the market while still fresh. The lack of cooling facilities increases post-harvest losses, which incurs considerable costs to the farmers.
It is estimated that 33% of harvested produce goes terrible due to a lack of proper storage facilities. With digitization, the cooling facilities are installed in trucks and farms, and perishable goods such as tomatoes get to the market while still fresh.
3. Crop scouting:
By leveraging the digital transformation, the farmers can use mobile phones and tablets to collect data about their crops and use various platforms to analyze collected data.
Some platforms help farmers take actionable insights from the analyzed data enabling them to take appropriate measures, thus boosting their yield and consequently preventing losses.
4. Monitoring of Crops and Soil:
Sensors are attached to the crops in the fields, which monitor the crops’ conditions and analyze them by watching the data collected. This informs the farmers about the crop and soil content and alerts them about taking specific steps to maintain moisture and water content wherever needed.
5. Automated Billing:
The digitized way of farming allows farmers generate automated billing cycles based on the requirements.
The billing and purchasing get analyzed and take place in an automated virtual format, thereby maintaining efficiency.
Digital and farming go hand in hand. With the digital era’s rise, agro practices are also getting digitized.
From maintaining crops to generating insights on the status of crops, everything is digitized.
“Fox ERP for Agriculture” is one such software that helps farmers digitize their farming activities by streamlining them digitally.
The world has changed, and so have the ways of doing business. Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen an unprecedented shift in how organizations carry out their business processes.
It’s a world of emerging technologies, and organizations across industries are adopting them quickly. Supply chain operations, too, hold a significant share among organizations and businesses utilizing such technologies for their operations.
The times have changed, organizations have transformed their ways of doing business, and companies are shifting to an all-new digitized way of doing business.