NEWS
HOW 4IR CAN BENEFIT YOUR
FARMING BUSINESS
The fourth industrial revolution ( 4IR ) is starting to change how every agricultural player , from a family subsistence farmer to big commercial producers , produces food and related products .
Kefiloe Manthata Senwes Journalist
With the world changing at a
rapid pace , farmers across the globe are beginning to make use of advanced technology to improve their business operations and increase profits .
The term 4IR covers a range of new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence ( AI ), Blockchain , the Internet of Things ( IoT ), Big Data and Drones . It further provides revolutionary methods of organisation , production and distribution based on digital transformation and automation that can erase limits between physical objects , turning them into comprehensive , complex systems of interconnected and interdependent elements . Hence , these technologies have the potential to have a positive impact on the productivity and profitability of the agricultural sector and the creation of new locally based added value .
Big Data and AI can help farmers gain access to complex information that can inform farming decisions . AI increases the value of collected data by analysing and converting it into information to support farm management decision-making . It can be applied at a range of magnitudes from converting data collected on individual animals and plants to the level of an entire farm by presenting information for crop planning and monitoring . Big Data and AI offer agriculture improved allocation and reproduction costs via the targeted allocation of inputs such as fertiliser and chemical applications .
Blockchain , on the other hand , can improve traceability , increase producers ’ earnings and secure contracts and transactions in agriculture . It also has the potential to create financial incentives for ecologically and economically beneficial production practices . Blockchain can also help increase earnings of producers in agriculture by providing better monitoring of their inventory and simplifying their food value chain , resulting in greater income for the farmers . A Blockchain by design is cryptographically secure .
The use of drone technology is especially exciting in that it can instantly improve everyday farm work and save vast costs in the process over time . Drone technology supports numerous major applications for agriculture , such as crop scouting and monitoring , crop inventory , precision spraying , inspection of farm infrastructure , generation of prescription maps , high-resolution mapping and surveying of individual field and crop damage assessment . Drone information can produce images that track changes in plants and indicate their health , helping farmers monitor their crops for diseases . Drones can also be used to monitor livestock remotely and potentially improve profits via timely monitoring and negating the need for physical inspections .
It is important for farmers to find the 4IR systems that will work best to elevate them to competitive status beyond the next 40 years .
SENWES SCENARIO | SOMER � SUMMER 2020 17