It is predicted that by 2050, there will be 10 billion people sharing this planet.

The agriculture sector is not immune to the urgent requirement of technological innovation that is needed to keep up with changing demands and population growths. Innovation in agriculture technology has the potential to transform every level of the food chain, from the seeds being planted to the food on our plates.

The need to innovate is a race against time for many industries across the globe due to the continuous increase in competition, financial uncertainties, changing socio-political pressures, shorter product life cycles and increasing customer demands.

With environmental concerns rising, Sustainably Oriented Innovation (SOI) must be incorporated into business models and strategies. The efficiency of agriculture is rather poor, with 7 tons of feed being required to produce only 1 ton of meat, as well as 880 gallons of water producing one gallon of milk. Climate change is causing further issues in the industry and changes must be made to crop management as well as the access to limited fresh soil and water.

Luckily, digital disruption is driving an agricultural transformation. Disruptive Innovation refers to breakthroughs that create a new market whilst disrupting an existing market, on route, replacing established leading organisations and products. The innovation signifies the breaks in established patterns that strike outside the conventional rules of the game, often caused by changes in technology regulatory change.

To combat sustainability issues in the industry, ‘Wine bots’ are being used in vineyards to prune vines, removing shoots and monitoring the vine and soil for general health in order to improve quality and reduce wastage. Artificial intelligence is being used to reduce irregularities in growth or production as well as using algorithms to identify animal behaviour and productivity. The list goes on, with VR, AR, sensors, drones and 3D printing paving the way for agricultural innovations.

An example of precision agriculture is driven by Brazilian company, SLC, which uses lasers to find weeds then accurately directs sprays to the correct area.

Nice example of precision agriculture in a farm managed by Brazilian company SLC. Laser finds weed, directs spraying to right spot pic.twitter.com/P4iVxTFDMZ

— Marcelo Teixeira (@tx_marcelo) January 27, 2019

Here at TMS, we understand the need for industries to not only disruptively innovate their competitors but also themselves. We are currently working with partners in the US and Europe on a feature-rich web application, giving the user direct access to up to the minute precision agriculture industry news with full search/filter and export functionality.

Crop and livestock productivity improvements are essential. Here at TMS we are proud to be making a difference in the agriculture industry and having an effect on the journey our food takes to reach our plates.