Big Data in Agriculture

2018

Published: June 4, 2018

Strategic Agriculture supported by proper planning and implementation can improve the lives of the farmers, a high percentage of whom are often poverty-stricken. Tweaking the agricultural sector not only reduces malnutrition but also creates jobs and raises incomes.

Thus, transforming agriculture, in one hand, can reduce poverty and on the other hand, improve the country’s economy.

Comprehending how Artificial-Intelligence has blossomed as a product of the contemporary Data-Age, its seemingly limitless scope prompts the need to make humankind both utilize and adapt to it. Accordingly, we can probe on harnessing Big Data to create an uplift of standards in human-life through its application in the agricultural sector.

Advanced analytics at every step of the food flow, right from the farm, to the market, and eventually kitchen, can aid sustainable value creation from the big data obtained therein. A subtask would be to determine optimal procedures of planting, harvesting, and supply-chain by analyzing the granular data generated from sensors in the field, along with those pertaining to logistics and consumer trends.

One-third food produced is lost or wasted every year due to inefficiencies in agricultural practices according to McKinsey.

The digital potential should not only be centered on sales and marketing, but it should also be applied in every possible step of the food’s upstream flow right from the farm itself. Some of the generic broad areas with relevant potential are listed below:

• Determining the nature and capacity of the soil by analyzing the crop output from historical data of past years.
• Forecasting expected crop volume using real-time data of growing crops and preparing an efficient supply chain.
• Identifying and proactively tackling potential infrastructural bottlenecks involving warehouse location and transport vehicle availabilities.
• Anticipating eventual household food waste and accordingly taking steps in the retail sector involving policies and services to reduce the waste.

In a nutshell, we can tap the potential of big data in agriculture through innovations in optimized farming operations, supply-chain efficiencies, and agriculture-focused policies and payment systems.