Undoubtedly, all over the globe, on every crop and in any climate, precision farming has proven to be the answer to enhance food production, boost yields and use production and natural resources in an efficient and sustainable manner, period.
No matter what field of Ag tech dimension we are referring to, from biotechnology sciences for seeds development that expands its genetic potential to increase yields, improve its ability to adapt to different climatic conditions, or by increasing their resistance to diseases; or digital and satellite imagery that is able to predict plant health events before they occur; software algorithms connected by cloud technology to field sensors that collects and processes information, such as water volume in the root zone, information that can easily be processed and converted into clear instructions of when and how much irrigation is required and at what frequency, instructions that trigger a number of pre-defined irrigation routines and programs that are automatically executed by the same controller platform; as stated, there are numerous examples to mention.
Nowadays, Ag technology even allows to interconnect some of those assets between each other, for instance ag-machinery connected to a GPS system is able to generate a precise geo-reference of every seed on the field, inject base nutrition in the soil, exactly where those seeds were geo-allocated and also to install every drip line of an SDI (Subsurface Drip Irrigation) system evenly and proportionally positioned at an exact depth, allowing the farmer to perform soil movement during and after the growing season and even erase those rows in which the crop was originally established and to allocate new rows for the next season, exactly above the dripper lines and its influenced wet bulb.
If all these positive impacts on food production seem to be so plausible and proven, why are Latin American farmers still hesitant on its adoption? In an even deeper context, is precision farming already a trend in Latin American farmers or is it just an aspirational state of mind for technologists?
To some extent, if the crop economics is that diverse from crop to crop and market to market, a proposed solution should be one that avoids the effect of the crop’s price in the market every cycle.
In the following few examples, I will, in my experience, try to explain what are those main aspects that determine the slower pace of adoption of precision farming for the Latin-American farmers, and also some insights to overcome the technological lag that affects their efficiency.
a. For generations, agriculture and other primary economic activities relied on natural resources and its annual based life cycle, which to some extent was “good enough”. It happened when climate was stable, land, water, and other natural resources where enough or at least supply somehow met food demand. The truth is that with the growing global population, water and arable land scarcity, and unstable climatic conditions, “good enough” rule no longer applies. If those were beliefs carried out by generations, it is very likely to assume that there will be some resistance to change coming from those farmers that a few years ago relied more on natural life cycles to produce food and less on technological tools to do so. A generational step change is starting to happen, and new kind of educated and informed young professionals are taking on the farming business, which eventually will start removing the well-known resistance to change of the previous generation. These “new farmers” increasingly rely on data and information coming from tech hacks and devices; and in an ever-changing environment, information, and the tools to control the unknown and unstable conditions are a must, and to say the least, this is how this new generation of farmers understand the world and consequently the way of doing business.
b. It is well known and believed that as a certain crop value rises, technology adoption gets easier, meaning that the economic cycle of such farming activity allows for investments, to enhance productivity and efficiency, taking into consideration the fact that such investments can be easily justified because the expected financial benefits are more evident. The truth is that even these cash crops do not follow that thumb rule and even high value crops, such as berries, avocado, fresh vegetables, gourmet specialties and so, are often affected by demand and offer forces, making its financial stability and predictability a hard to deal with task to all, not to say that on the extensive crops such as grains, forages, or other industrial and commodity crops, the equation gets exponentially complex and uncertainty is the name of the game. To some extent, if the crop economics is that diverse from crop to crop and market to market, a proposed solution should be one that avoids the effect of the crop’s price in the market every cycle, with the design of financing options that takes into consideration crop economics that will determine, the correct payment terms of the principal, interest rate, down payment and some other of those painful concepts used by financial institutions. To some extent, few governments subsidize some of these concepts like IR and provide warranties to allow favorable credit conditions for farmers.
c. When new technologies, practices or methods are implemented, a subsequential list of malfunctions and mistakes are the common factor among those pioneers that sometimes disincentivize the willingness to continue innovating and adopting new ways to enhance its activity. Such a situation can be easily tackled if the supplier of such technology is able to provide post sale support and training, to obtain the expected benefits of such investment. These support schemes might come in different forms and styles, such as Annual Service Policies, training programs and other post-sale service schemes. Some companies in the AG space are even able to offer subscription schemes for software, machinery or irrigation that includes the hardware and its operation & maintenance on a periodic fee that turns CAPEX into OPEX, which eventually is an alternative solution for the previous bullet point and represents some tax benefits as well.
These are only a few examples and alternatives for solutions but if in one hand, while geographic location, low-cost structure and favorable climatic conditions provides Latin American Farmers with a competitive advantage at a global level; the slower pace of adoption of Ag technologies can easily be considered as the main factor that neutralizes such advantage. In conclusion, technology to enhance food production is not just a trend or a desirable condition; it is an imperative requirement for Latin American farmers and its ability to compete in any marketplace.
