Over the last few years, there has been a significant impact of developing technology on the agriculture industry. There are an increasing number of investors showing interest in agriculture technology. In the last few years, several technologies have been providing solutions for the development of the agri-food market, like lab-based milk/meat, novel farming, and robotics. These solutions provide opportunities for improving the manner of producing, selling, and managing the business.
Let's learn in-depth about agrifood tech and how technology is playing a bigger part in the development of the agriculture industry.
Agri-food technology may look smaller, but it is one of the growing segments for the venture capitals and start-ups aiming for improving the global agriculture and food industry. Globally, agriculture and the food industry are responsible for feeding and for the emissions of greenhouse gas in large portions.
The agriculture demands are constantly getting increased, requiring innovations in agri-food technology more important.
• Constantly growing population of the world that is expected to touch 9 billion by 2050
• Global warming and climate change problems
• Changing demands of the consumers include increasing demand for low processed foods and meat proteins
• Limited and decreasing natural resources such as water and land
Companies in the agritech sector have constantly been adopting technologies for the effective supply of food. Companies which are not making any such efforts are at the risk of getting failed.
In the sector of agri-food, the role of technology is all about using the data for benefits such as efficiency in the production process and making better decisions related to the business.
• Information collecting and reporting: The first step starts with gathering, organizing, and reporting the relevant information in one place.
• Analyze information: The next step is to check the insights and trends which can be taken out from the gathered reports, for example, an insight on reasons for gaps in sales for a particular month.
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) - When the company has a clear image of the required figures and KPIs that are important for the market, it becomes easy to monitor them. With the help of collected data from the use of technologies, important figures can be monitored easily. The types of data include export data, import data, and many more.
• Predict: The next step is to predict how the market is developing, such as the demand or price of specific products. Technologies can provide accurate insights into the market that can help food suppliers in making effective predictions.
• Market determination: The last step is primarily theoretical. The market behavior is based on the market simulations. Following this manner, the supplier can understand better which events, incentives, or activities can help in generating the expected outcome.
Agrifood tech can be highly helpful in solving many of the present problems of the agri-food sectors and make them more transparent, agile, sustainable, and capable of responding to the changing demands of the consumers quicker.
Problems like food waste that keep occurring in the food supply chains can be solved with a better understanding of the food supply sector.
Conclusion:
Agrifood is said to be a complex sector because it includes several steps like processing, operating, and sending food from the field to the plate. In the upcoming future, the role of agri-food tech will be highly important for agri-food companies, esp. to cater to the changing demands of consumers.