Digital agriculture is driving the future of food production in the world

As long as humans were at the mercy of nature and climatic changes in the past, agricultural production depended entirely on the amounts of rain that fall annually, temperature and humidity changes, and geography limitations, for example it was not possible to grow plants that need high temperatures in cold regions and vice versa .

Changing climatic conditions controlled the nature of the food product. Fruits and vegetables were seasonal, and meat was the same as meat known for thousands of years. Read also UN report: $ 10 billion of precious metals are dumped every year into a huge mountain of e-waste Our cell phones play a role in eliminating insects By tying asphalt to strings … Watch the robotic arms build roads without petroleum products For use in many applications … researchers convert radio waves into electricity

But with the tremendous technical developments and the entry into the world of the digital revolution and artificial intelligence, it has become possible to control this now, as agricultural technology is constantly developing, and the news tells us every day stories about cultured meat, robots that pick fruits at high speed, and global companies pump millions of dollars to invest in what has become known about A large scale digital agriculture that works to provide all food items at all times of the year regardless of climate changes, while also preserving the environment by reducing the volume of pollutant emissions of the atmosphere from toxic gases resulting from agricultural operations by the traditional methods that were previously prevalent.

Digital agriculture is that agriculture that uses information and communication technology and ecosystem data to support the timely provision and development of information and services to farmers, to make agriculture profitable and socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, and to provide safe, nutritious and affordable food for all at the same time.

Digital agriculture seems inevitable in the future with the increase in the number of giant fermentation ponds that produce dairy, smart tractors that know where they are in the fields, and lead themselves in the operations of sowing and harvesting, and meat with high nutritional value made from plants, while reducing the cost of production using Sensors and accurate irrigation systems that save water, as well as provide the necessary information to farmers in a timely manner using cloud computing and smart applications, as farmers receive easy-to-follow recommendations for irrigation, the use of pesticides, fertilization and other agricultural practices used to improve the yield and increase its quantity with significant savings in material costs .

Digital agriculture also appears inevitable with the increase in human numbers, the constant need for more food, and urban sprawl that reduce the size and area of ​​arable land in the world.

And the promises made by digital agriculture have no limit. Many enthusiasts of this revolution believe that the use of technology in agriculture will allow humanity to produce more food on a much smaller area of ​​land than before, and will contribute to reducing waste and pollutants, protecting biodiversity, and providing more job opportunities. Around the world.

Investments in the millions

A recent study by Blue Weave Consulting revealed that the global market value for digital agriculture has reached $ 4,770.8 million in 2020, and is expected to reach $ 10,702.3 million by 2027, at an annual growth rate of 12.7%, due to an increase. The demand for food and the increasing use of technology in agriculture, as well as the significant savings in production costs by applying modern agricultural technologies.

More production, less cost

Traditional agriculture is costly financially, from preparing the soil and receiving seeds to using fertilizers to fertilize the soil, using pesticides to control pests and diseases, and reaching the stage of harvesting, all operations require a lot of money, and fertilizers and pesticides, for example, consume a large part of agricultural investment.

Fertilizer spending in the United States increased from $ 8.6 billion in 1985 to $ 23.5 billion in 2016. Advertising

A study prepared by Economic Research Services (ERS) for the benefit of the US Department of Agriculture concluded that farmers use digital technologies such as “yield mapping” – which is the process of collecting data on agricultural crop productivity in different geographical environments. To determine which ones produce the most for a particular food product or combine this technology with “variable-rate technology” (VRT) – they can save $ 25 per acre.

The study indicated that the savings rate using digital technologies in agriculture amounts to 4.5% of the cost of production by traditional methods, and that this will bring abundant profit to farmers, as well as to consumers, as it will contribute to lower prices of food products in the market.

Digital agriculture protects the environment

In addition to saving money and increasing production, digital agriculture effectively contributes to protecting the environment, as traditional agriculture is one of the largest sources of pollution, especially the emission of carbon dioxide, which has negatively contributed to climate change worldwide.

According to a study by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the global food system, from the manufacture and use of fertilizers in soil fertilization, to the storage and packaging of food produced, contributes to more than a third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Whereas the World Economic Forum estimated that if only 15-20% of the existing farms in the world used digital farming techniques, the proportion of food production in the world would increase by about 10-15%, greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 10%, and 20% of the amount would be saved. Water used in agricultural operations.

All these factors contribute to the increasing use of digital farming technologies around the world, and these technologies will be dominant in the agricultural sector in the near future.

Greenhouse farming takes the lion’s share

The greenhouse agriculture sector captured the largest share in the global digital agriculture market in 2020, and people are using greenhouse agriculture to grow all kinds of vegetable crops.

The Eden project is the largest greenhouse project in the world, and includes more than 100,000 plants from more than 5,000 different species, grown using digital technologies and the latest in agricultural technology in the world.

The ability to grow in a greenhouse and to grow various crops outside their natural environment has greatly contributed to achieving the sector’s largest market share in the global digital agriculture market.

The global digital agriculture market

Europe dominates the digital agriculture market in the world now, followed by North America, as well as the beginning of the spread of digital farming methods in the Middle East, Africa and some Latin American countries.

The Netherlands is the leading country in this field, as it owns the world’s largest digital farms, controls more than a third of the global fruit and vegetable seed trade, and is the world’s largest exporter of potatoes and onions.

Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is the world’s leading university in agricultural research, and the driving force behind the Netherlands’ export of digital agriculture to the world.

The European Commission is also supporting the adoption of digital farming methods in the European Union through the US $ 90 billion “Horizon” program.

If we add to these factors the availability of the latest technologies, a strong infrastructure, an advanced supply chain, and the availability of funds for research and investment in this field, then we will understand why Europe was the dominant leader in the global digital agriculture market in the past year 2020.