Environmental concerns and climate change fears are at an all-time high, making sustainable farming a contentious issue.
With the global and especially Africa’s population growing, increasing shortages of land and water pose a significant threat to the longevity of the human race. However, agriculture technology start-ups are taking action.
From precision agriculture to farm automation, genetics, and water management technology, various new innovations in agri-tech provide smarter, safer, more productive farming techniques.
World Food Demands to Increase
It is expected that by 2050, the demand for food will surge by 70%, in line with the rapid population growth. According to United Nations study last year, it was established that 9.9% of the world’s population still goes hungry. With environmental changes becoming increasingly harder to predict, innovation in agriculture technology is called for as never before.
Herewith are new technologies changing the agricultural landscape:
1. Bee Vectoring Technologies (BVT)
When it comes to crop production, honey bees are worth billions. Considered essential to human survival, increasing innovation in agriculture equipment to help protect bees and maximize their pollination capabilities, have seen the light.
BVT uses commercially reared bees to deliver targeted crop controls through pollination, replacing chemical pesticides with an environmentally safe crop protection system. This system does not require spraying water or use of tractors. Instead, the scientifically designed bumblebee hive allows bees to pick up a trace amount of pest control powders on their legs to spread as they travel within the field.
This innovation in agriculture technology supports improved sustainable farming, crop yield, and soil quality. BVT’s solution is suitable for many crops, including blueberries, sunflowers, apples and tomatoes, and also works for farms of all sizes.
2. Precision Agriculture
Precision agriculture is an agricultural resource management strategy collecting, processing and evaluating farming data, offering insights to assist farmers in optimising and increasing soil quality and productivity.
Management decisions count on precision agriculture data points to improve farmland and farm produce across several key areas, such as resource use efficiency, sustainability, profitability, productivity and quality.
Using big data to aid management decisions, it enables farmers to control crop yield variables such as moisture level, soil condition and microclimates to maximise output. It relies on remote sensing systems, drones, robotics and automation to improve crop health and optimise agricultural resources, leading to enhanced productivity.
It is projected the global precision farming market will hit $16.35 billion by 2028, growing at a 13.1%. It is believed that increased government support and the growing need for efficient crop health monitoring, will drive market growth.
3. Indoor Vertical Farming
The average yield of rice per hectare is between three and six tonnes, limiting outdoor farmers. Indoor vertical farming grows farm produce stacked above another in a closed and controlled environment. The technology uses growing shelves mounted vertically to increase crop yield in limited spaces. Quite often, the shelves don’t require soil—they’re either hydroponic or aeroponic. While hydroponics is a gardening practice growing plants in water and nutrient solution, aeroponics suspends the roots of the crops in the air with emitters intermittently spraying them with water and nutrients.
Indoor vertical farms enable growers to control variables such as light, temperature, water and even carbon dioxide levels, allowing for healthier and bigger yields.
Other benefits of the technology include 70% less water usage, which conserves energy and reduced labour costs due to the use of robots for harvesting and planting.
4. Livestock Farming Technology
Emerging livestock technologies provide farmers with data-driven insights, allowing them to streamline farm management, improve animal care and boost productivity.
Some of the many innovations redefining livestock farming include automated dairy installations automatically milking cows without human intervention. The milk sensors also help farmers monitor the milk quality. Others are:
Automated cleaning systems removing waste thereby enabling cleaner as disease-free environments;
Special non-antibiotic treatment uses acoustic pulse technology (APT) for bovine mastitis, a cow disease responsible for over $6 billion annual losses in the U.S. and Europe;
Automated feeder systems providing animals with feeding mixtures tailored to their specific needs and in the right amount;
Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and big data to increase animal welfare and farm productivity.
5. Laser Scarecrows
Birds or rodents can be a menace to growing crops in an open field. In the past, farmers relied on traditional scarecrows to ward off hungry invaders. Today, farmers are turning to high-tech devices with motion sensors to keep birds from pillaging crops.
After discovering that birds are sensitive to the colour green, a researcher from the University of Rhode Island helped design a laser scarecrow, which projects green laser light. The light is not to humans in sunlight, but it can shoot almost 183 metres across a field to startle birds before destroying crops.
Early tests with laser scarecrows found that the devices can minimise crop damages by reducing the bird population around farmlands by 70% to 90%.
What policy interventions have been implemented to support South Africa agriculture?
6. Farm Automation
Farm automation brings together agricultural machinery, computer systems, electronics, chemical sensors and data management to improve equipment operation and decision-making, ultimately reducing human input and error.
Reduced labour time, higher yields and the efficient use of resources are driving the large-scale adoption of this technology. Farmers now use automated harvesters, drones, autonomous tractors and automated seeding and weeding to transform their crop cultivation. The technology takes care of menial and recurring tasks, allowing farmers to focus on more critical functions.
Automation can help employees save time as the technology reduces the need for people to actively partake in a task. Thanks to automation, most farmers now spend more time with their families than before.
7. Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) Technology
Robert Salmon, a United Kingdom-based farmer, found that constraining farming machinery to a permanent lane significantly reduced damage to the soil.
Allowing machines unconstrained travel across arable land can result in virtually all of the land being run over, compromising the drainage and friability. In 2016, Robert transitioned his 4,800 acres to a 12-meter controlled system where all farm machines would use the same permanent traffic lane.
Implementing a controlled traffic system requires accurate techniques, which are almost impossible with traditional GPS systems. New technology can provide centimetre-level accuracy, enabling farmers to accurately map their fields and constrain vehicles permanently on the same lane. It transmits the correct positioning information to tractors by radio signal, allowing them to stay on track while moving. This innovation boosts soil health and productivity, increasing output with less input.
8. Mini Chromosome Technology
According to Agritech Tomorrow, the growing population and demand for food mean that farmers will need to increase crop production by at least 23% to maintain current living standards. Losing entire yields to pests is a major problem as the global population grows.
Genetically modified (GM) food has been criticised over recent years with some studies suggesting it may be linked to allergic reactions or include harmful toxins exposing humans to health risks. Another issue is that GM food production can disrupt natural biodiversity or release toxins into the soil.
Now, agricultural geneticists can apply mini chromosome technology to enhance a plant’s traits without altering the genes in any way. Since mini chromosomes contain small amounts of genetic material, it is possible to use this technology to make plants more drought-tolerant or resistant to pests without interfering with the host’s natural development.
In short, mini chromosome technology allows genetic engineers to create crops that require fewer pesticides, fungicides and fertilisers, reducing reliance on harmful chemicals. It also lets them achieve bio-fortification and enhance a plant’s nutritional content.
9. Farm Management Software
Many farmers burn the wick at both ends as they struggle to keep on top of a heavy workload with little help. The bigger the farm, the more daunting it is to oversee all operations. But in the age of Software as a Service (SaaS), there is an app for just about everything—including farm management.
Farm management software is an integrated platform providing real-time data and information, such as a digital checklist to assist farmers with tracking daily activities. With this monitoring and reporting software, farmers can improve decision-making throughout all operations.
FarmERP, an enterprise resource planning solution, allows farms to streamline their processes and enables seamless collaborations. It lets users manage procurement, supply chain, finances and processing from a single hub. This innovation in agriculture technology will continue to advance as internet-enabled devices become more common. Mordor Intelligence predicts the farm management software market will witness a growth of 11.2% by 2026.
10. Water Management Technology
Irrigation is a vital method of providing water to drylands with insufficient rainfall to make them arable. While this is a crucial aspect of farming today, many farmers still irrigate their fields with wasteful amounts of water the same way the Mesopotamians did over 4,000 years ago.
Besides wasting over two-thirds of the water, flood irrigation can overwater plants, affecting their growth. It could also carry excess fertilisers into streams and lakes, contaminating freshwater sources.
Innovation and technology in agriculture offer farmers more sustainable ways to provide sufficient water to plants. For instance, N-Drip, a micro drip irrigation system, allows water to slowly drip to plants’ roots, creating the right environment for crops to thrive. The technology reduces water usage by up to 50% and improves crop quality. N-Drip is the first and only micro irrigation solution powered by gravity, a disruptive technology providing precise irrigation, producing higher yields while saving water, without adding energy or needing water filtration.
MassChallenge, a non-profit organisation, offers new start-ups the opportunity to partner with rising talent in the Agro technology industry.
