Agritech: the path towards digitization in the field and its application

The path to digital transformation is being lived more and more closely in industries that were traditional until a few years ago. Such is the case of agribusiness.

The application of various factors such as Internet of Things (IoT) technology for rapid data analysis has become key to improving the production processes of agricultural companies to evolve in the face of the current challenges faced by the sector.

We understand Agritech as those companies, usually startups, that enable through technology the increase in different figures of merit in the field, harvest and labor productivity, machinery and tool performance, financial efficiency, sustainability in the use of water and supplies, and traceability of crop, amongst others.

We will discuss how to implement a scalable growth methodology, based on the needs that we have seen in our clients. This methodology allows agro-industries to identify and design strategies that make them evolve from traditional agriculture to agritech in an efficient manner and, most importantly, with tangible results.

Current panorama of the agro-industrial sector

According to the latest report issued by the United Nations Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 45 million people in 43 countries around the world are on the verge of extreme physical weakness caused by the lack of food.

In addition, the world is facing a growing population that by 2050 will require a 60% increase in food production, which places the agro-industrial sector in an imminent challenge that leads them to seek new solutions which will allow them to make more efficient and multiply the results of current production processes to meet global demands.

1. Use and scarcity of water in Agriculture and Livestock

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, we are currently facing a climate change crisis and agriculture and livestock play a fundamental role in water scarcity in the world, considering 75 to 95% of water extractions are able to carry out the production processes.

For this reason, the regulation of water resources is essential within the processes and challenges faced by agribusinesses, and the choice of crops has a vital impact on reducing water scarcity. Some crops need large amounts of water for their development, while others, such as legumes, require a moderate amount of litres of water per kilogram of product.

Hiring consultancy helps an agribusiness in the use of resources to moderate the use of water in livestock and agricultural activities and, in this way, contribute to the preservation of a vital resource for the world.

2. Lack of Manpower

Currently, agriculture faces another major problem: the lack of labor.

Agribusinesses report that they have been left without the possibility of harvesting crops because they do not have enough personnel and that they present harvest losses that can go up to 150 tons without harvesting due to a lack of labor.

The solution: streamline the field and harvest processes so that the reduction of losses is a reality for agro-industries and thus counteract the loss.

How does Agritech contribute to the challenges of the primary sector?

With our experience and together with our clients, we guide companies towards success by taking advantage of and empowering their resources.

We have detected a series of challenges that the primary sector faces in its day to day. The transition from a traditional agriculture model to an agritech model can be one of the paths towards increased profitability.

Optimization of processes and information systems

Agricultural companies often lack previously established processes that allow measuring and streamlining the results or yields of their current operations.

Particularly, with regard to the processes of cultural work, efficiency in the application of nutrition, phytosanitary care and the harvest, they represent a challenge in increasing the productivity of the crop, of the personnel and the reduction of the costs per kilograms harvested.

In order to float this challenge, at London Consulting Group we have implemented process standardization with the help of digital measurement and management mechanisms that allow agro-industries to identify current inefficiencies and design tools to increase productivity and reduce costs. costs.

The first step is to understand the current operation and how the different areas of the organization operate to collect information. Subsequently, the operational and strategic processes are defined and a solution aligned to specific needs is designed and implemented. All this must be tested in small experiments (or pilots) to learn at controlled costs.

Digitization of work systems

Hand in hand with the previous point, we have as a second challenge the digitization of work systems that allows automatic and systematic learning for the evolution of performance from the application of technology in crop processes.

The digital application in agricultural operations can encompass a wide range of solutions and possibilities that improve field, harvest, packaging and logistics processes.

At London Consulting Group we carry out an in-depth evaluation of each of the areas for improvement. Based on this analysis, we define which tools we should work with (suppliers and licensing) and which ones we should develop internally. All this, generating data from your business that lives in the cloud, giving traceability to your crop in a safe way, directing your company towards a real analysis and evaluation of the results.

In this way, it is possible to identify the performance of the processes of the entire value chain of the company, with measurable results that give a complete picture of the key points for the optimization of resources.

How do these technologies that enable the Agritech trend work?

The use of the Internet of things and data analytics in precision agriculture consists of HAVING A DIGITAL NERVOUS SYSTEM CONNECTED TO YOUR COMPANY. Precision agriculture (AP) uses the Internet of Things (IoT) to optimize the process of cultivating land through monitoring, data storage, and automated evaluation.

Through the Internet of things, smart and precision agriculture, the integral process of a crop is automatically monitored and diagnosed. Through GPS, sensors and geographic information systems (GIS), the chemical characteristics of cultivated soils are known.

The application of these technologies in conjunction with process control, indicators and government models, reduce production costs and increase the productivity and profitability of agricultural companies.

The application of these technologies also serves for the analysis of processes and information, allowing manual and imprecise record practices to be put aside and evolving towards a digitized system that provides clarity in the monitoring and scope of KPIs.

Some improvements that we have seen in our projects are the following:

• Improvement in crop productivity.
• Improvement in crop quality.
• Increased productivity of work teams.
• Decrease in the cost per hectare.
• Reduction of loss due to shrinkage.
• Control and management of field teams.
• Optimization of collection costs.
• Lower harvest cost per kilogram.
• Lower cost of processing and packaging.
• Crop traceability (from the garden to the table).

These are just to mention some of the multiple benefits of the digital transformation towards an agritech to face the current challenges.

Agritech: how to digitize your agribusiness

At London Consulting Group, we lead your business towards digital transformation by adapting this trend to overcome the new challenges in your industry and achieve the results you expect.

As we have seen throughout this article, improvement in the supervision and management of processes through digitization are the key to achieving objectives and reducing costs.

Having clarity of performance and productivity through the support of tools developed 100% for the needs of your agribusiness allows you to act strategically and make decisions aimed at success.

We are ready to help you grow towards agritech!