Technology has revolutionized most industries today by improving efficiency and profitability. Within agriculture, technologies such as robots, artificial intelligence, sophisticated sensors, drones and more are being used on farms across the world. These technologies offer endless benefits to farmers and agribusinesses by improving sustainability, reducing costs, improving profits, decreasing labor costs, and in some cases making on farm practices safer. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) smallholder farms produce about one-third of the world’s food. Many agritech products are designed and marketed toward larger scale farms, which makes accessibility difficult for small-scale farms. Improving practices on small-scale farms is vital, which is why some agritech businesses intentionally design products that are affordable and accessible for small scale farmers. Let’s explore some of the agriculture technologies revolutionizing small-scale farming.
Machinery
When considering machinery used on farms, large tractors harvesting very large fields is what typically comes to mind. For a small-scale farmer, such machinery would be excessive. Purchasing a smaller tractor and adding on versatile attachments is typically best suited for small scale farmers. Agriculture experts encourage the use of this type of machinery on small-scale farms to improve efficiency and productivity. One company, Farm-NG developed an affordable machine that reduces hand labor by offering towing, mechanical weeding, planting and harvesting. Their product can also capture images as the machine is working that can be used to make informed decisions based on the pictures captured.
Farm Management Software
Farm management software has seen a major leap in innovation across agriculture. Farm Management Software includes programs, applications and websites that assist in planning, assessing, implementing and optimizing farm operations. Agriculture experts have seen the many benefits to using farm management software on small, medium and large farms. While this category is vast, companies like Farm Raise have developed management software that is specifically beneficial to small farmers. Their technology includes accounting features that assist farmers in managing transactions and generating reports on profits and losses. Additionally, this software compiles grant opportunities tailored to small scale farmers that are made available through an online library for farmers to access. The ability to track farm operations all in one application is a major benefit to small scale farmers.
Precision Farming
Agriculture experts mark precision farming as a trend that will continue to be on the rise in agriculture technology. Precision agriculture involves collecting, processing and accessing data and then taking that data to make prudent on-farm decisions. On larger farms this can look like drones surveying land, autonomous tractors, intelligent sensors, targeted input application and more. On smaller farms, investing in these technologies in many cases is expensive and will not produce a return on investment. However, precision farming can still be applied to small-scale farming in various ways. These technologies include smartphones accessing data analytic tools, satellites to view maps, topography and crop monitoring. Additionally, affordable sensors tailored to small farms that will assist in measuring soil properties, plant health, weather conditions and water status can be beneficial.
Final Thoughts
Integrating agritech on small farms is challenging, but as farmers see the positive impact these technologies can make, adoption will continue to increase. Agribusinesses must consider smaller farms when researching and developing new products. Feeding the world takes effort from farms of all sizes. Increasing efficiency and productivity farms through agritech will make an impact on food production worldwide.
