How the digitalization of agriculture will sort the wheat from the chaff
It may seem like a paradox, and one that based on centuries-old stereotypes, but agriculture is moving inexorably toward what can only be called digitalization.
Farming has been more about multinational corporations than a humble farmer tilling the soil or herding animals for many years now, and the change hasn’t always been for the good. The revolution came through the use of phosphorus fertilizers and pesticides, which increased productivity but also produced very complex and unsustainable side effects, from the pollution and overfertilization of many ecosystems to the disappearance of numerous animal species.
However, the marriage between agriculture and technology doesn’t have to be about productivity at any cost, as the cultivation of many plant species now shows: a large number of the vegetables we consume, for example, have never seen a field, instead they are grown hydroponically, such as the lettuces shown here. Such methods are highly productive and have a relatively low environmental impact.
But beyond the ultra-specialization that turns farms into laboratories, there is a growing variety of technology aimed at automating agriculture that offers ever higher productivity and even makes it possible to avoid many of the most harmful interventions. Agriculture 4.0…
