Mindset shift needed as techno change sweeps agriculture
Technology could change the future landscape of the agriculture sector if used effectively and if participants were willing to “think bigger”, FutureWorld futurist and entrepreneur Craig Wing said at the recent Agribusiness Africa conference.
With ever-changing technologies in the fourth industrial revolution, it was necessary to adjust to the new world and adopt a TechAgri approach, as opposed to an AgriTech model, he noted.
“Cognitive computing in agriculture is going to be the most disruptive force in the industry, as big as the green economy,” he told delegates. However, it would depend on the sector’s willingness to rethink the way things were done.
Wing pointed out that the agriculture sector currently focused on process technologies that could deliver that extra 10% improvement.
He said there should rather be a focus on technology that could deliver “ten times” extra improvement, which required a fundamental change in mindset and learning new approach models.
Advances in technology could go beyond the delivered efficiencies associated with enhanced monitoring, cost savings and environmental benefits, as well as autonomous vehicles, farm robots, drones and precision in planting, fertilisation and irrigation.
He cited the popular examples of how Uber, AirBnB and Alibaba had used technology to become the biggest players in their respective industries – without owning the assets themselves.
This could immensely benefit South Africa’s agriculture industry, which already had the core components – water, soil and land – but still needed to leverage these in “a whole new way”.
“It’s a question of exposure, of learning the willingness to have the hard conversations that there are other options out there,” he told delegates.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation