New Agricultural Technology

- Overview 

Innovation is more important than ever in modern agriculture. The industry as a whole is facing enormous challenges, including rising supply costs, labor shortages, and changing consumer preferences for transparency and sustainability. Agricultural companies are increasingly recognizing the need to address these challenges. 

Over the past 10 years (2021), there has been a huge increase in investment in agricultural technology, with $6.7 billion invested over the past 5 years and $1.9 billion invested in the last year alone. Major technological innovations in this field are concentrated in areas such as indoor vertical farming, automation and robotics, livestock technology, modern greenhouse practices, precision agriculture and artificial intelligence, and blockchain, etc..

- Emerging Technologies and New Farm Conservation Solutions

With a rapidly growing population, food demand will explode by 70% by 2050. A United Nations study found that some 9.9 percent of the world's population is still hungry, so feeding nearly 10 billion mouths is a daunting prospect. As environmental changes are unpredictable, we must turn to technological innovations in agriculture.

A new generation of tech-savvy, data-hungry young farmers has reinvented large-scale farming. By analyzing data collected from sensors, tractors, and satellites, farmers today are able to track crop health, make planting decisions, and guide fertilizer use, making their businesses more efficient than ever before.

The approach, known as precision agriculture, is especially helpful in addressing fertilizer runoff, which is a particular concern for farmers because nitrogen fertilizer is one of their biggest expenses. It is also a major cause of water pollution and climate change.

A cornerstone of this new strategy is equipping farmers with effective tools. Farmers are under increasing regulatory and market pressure to operate more sustainably, and technology is creating new economic and environmental opportunities in agriculture.

[Beautiful Islands in The Pacific - NY Hall of Science]

- New Agricultural Technology

As the famous saying "information is power", tracking information about crops, the environment and markets can help farmers make better decisions and alleviate farming-related problems. Technologies such as blockchain, IoT, machine learning, deep learning, cloud computing, and edge computing can be used to acquire information and process it. The application of computer vision, machine learning, IoT will help increase yields, improve quality, and ultimately increase the profitability of farmers and related fields. Precision learning in the agricultural field is very important to improve the overall yield of the harvest.

Blockchain technology, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) are the latest trends in computing. It has been used in different fields such as healthcare, cybercrime, biochemistry, robotics, metrology, banking, medicine, food, etc. to solve complex problems for researchers.

Deep learning algorithms make machine learning more powerful and accurate. By using automated machine learning (AutoML), you can reduce the need for ML experts and automate ML pipelines more accurately.

Modern farms and farming operations operate very differently than they did decades ago, largely because of advances in technology, including sensors, equipment, machines and information technology. Agriculture today often uses sophisticated technologies such as robotics, temperature and humidity sensors, aerial imagery and GPS technology. These advanced devices, along with precision farming and robotic systems, enable businesses to be more profitable, efficient, safe and environmentally friendly.

- Importance of Agricultural Technology

Modern farms and farming operations operate very differently than they did decades ago, largely because of advances in technology, including sensors, equipment, machines and information technology. 

Agriculture today often uses sophisticated technologies such as robotics, temperature and humidity sensors, aerial imagery and GPS technology. These advanced equipment, along with precision farming and robotic systems, enable businesses to be more profitable, more efficient, safer and greener. 

Farmers no longer have to apply water, fertilizers, and pesticides uniformly across entire fields. Instead, they can use the minimum quantities required and target very specific areas, or even treat individual plants differently. Benefits include: 

• Higher crop productivity.
• Decreased use of water, fertilizer, and pesticides, which in turn keeps food prices down.
• Reduced impact on natural ecosystems.
• Less runoff of chemicals into rivers and groundwater.
• Increased worker safety.

In addition, robotic technologies enable more reliable monitoring and management of natural resources, such as air and water quality. It also gives producers greater control over plant and animal production, processing, distribution, and storage, which results in:

• Greater efficiencies and lower prices.
• Safer growing conditions and safer foods.
• Reduced environmental and ecological impact.

[More to come ...]