How Is Data-Driven Farming Transforming the Industry
The global agriculture markets are projected to increase by 110% by 2023, and a significant portion of this spike happens due to efficiency in farming techniques and better yields per crop.
Data drives expectations and investments for increased agricultural production and precision farming. The entire agricultural community can benefit from digitised information since the data is collected with proven methodologies.
What Are the Opportunities for Farmers?
Investments in data-driven enterprise farm management systems can reap rich benefits for the farmers. They can enhance productivity, mitigate environmental change challenges, and optimise resource utilisation for better yields.
Most importantly, it reduces the risks of farming and promotes sustainable agri-food options in the markets. The main benefits of digitised farming for the farmer community are:
1. Better Crop Planning
When farmers have a clear outlook on what to produce, where, and when to produce, they can make informed decisions. Using localised and imported data analytics, it becomes easier. Weather information, crop growth models, market data, and localised farm and soil information are significant metrics.
2. Better Productivity
Harnessing data and innovation helps feed the growing population. Since the global food demands are set to spike over the next three decades, it is incumbent upon farmers to boost their production. Data extracted through GPS systems, soil sensors, GIS technologies, and IoT sensors facilitates the implementation of precision agriculture at every stage of farming.
3. Disease and Pest Control
Crops are susceptible to several diseases and pest attacks. Farmers are often not prepared to face these challenges, resulting in loss of potential yields. Timely reports and data analysis can help in reducing the cost of treatments to salvage the crops affected by pests or diseases. Farmers can monitor crop health using predictive analysis and avoid adverse events through resource management.
4. Inventory Control
Since farm inventory can affect overall profits and costs, it is imperative to implement an enterprise farm management system offering inventory control features. If farmers fail to determine inventory costs manually, they can rely on digitised processes to monitor them.
5. Autonomous Functions Powered by ICTs
With automation and big data analytics, farmers can control their workflows and improve efficiencies. For example, functions like managing the windows in a glasshouse, switching on the pumps when soil humidity falls, or auto-feeding animals at regular intervals are some functions that require accurate data for precision.
6. Forecasting and Farm Reports
Data-driven farm management systems can generate reports using charts and figures for better visualisation and forecasting for every season. Instead of being unsure about the expected farm yield, profits, and upcoming challenges, farmers can use imported and localised data to make pre-assessments and initiate better methodologies.
What Are the Opportunities for Farming Communities?
If you look at the bigger picture here, farm management based on data analytics can improve the overall market dynamics. Proactive insights and tracking of harvest data not only benefit the farmers but the entire industry. Data adds value to the existing systems and brings agility in the processes. Benefits for agri-community and stakeholders are:
1. Precise Predictions
Data-driven farming holds huge promises for global agriculture communities. It can generate more cost savings and better business opportunities through data analytics and artificial intelligence.
Companies can manage and visualise farm data on a real-time basis to make timely decisions instead of waiting too long for manual information. It gives accurate estimations to procurement partners for ascertaining the number of farmers in a specified region growing a particular type of crop over a specific acreage of land.
2. Lesser Spoilage
Many agri-based products are perishable and need stringent food safety standards. When exporting these products, it is essential to avoid spoilage and ensure timely shipping. If the agri-businesses use an enterprise farm management system, they can standardise harvesting, checking, and preparing crops for exports.
3. Supply Chain Management
The most transformative impact of data analytics is witnessed in supply chain management. Throughout the supply chain, a farmer can monitor and trace their products from retailers to distributors. Accordingly, they can tailor their products and activate the best sales channel to fulfil growing demands.
4. Managing Climate Changes
The biggest threats to the farming community come in the form of environmental and climate challenges. It affects productivity and increases risks. Luckily, data-driven farming can help navigate the shifts in environmental factors to predict these changes before it’s too late. Through data analytics, smart resource planning provides practical tools to monitor crop health and current natural events to make a predictive analysis.
Even for agricultural businesses, data-driven farming holds benefits like pest and disease control to improve yield production and overall food quality. Indian farmers can meet global quality standards with precision agriculture focused on value-added solutions.
