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.