In the country side, Technological tools are allies of production, both for yields and for sustainability. Cutting-edge innovations applied to agricultural activity are constantly evolving, e Argentina is a leader in the adoption of digital applicationsdespite the determinants of the macroeconomic environment.
The food and environmental needs of the world drive a leap in efficiency, to reduce costs and produce more, with greater sustainability. A recent report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) claims that 70% of the continent’s agricultural producers take decisions based on software designed to collect, store and analyze data. And they are becoming more and more common. autopilots, THE drones and other mechanisms for selective applications, guided by remote control.
In that context, “Digital agro: the future is today”was the title of the third speech by “The World to Come”. It is a cycle of 10 meetings between company executives, civil servants, social leaders, experts and entrepreneurs, led by Daniel Fernández Canedo, editor-in-chief of Economy of Clarín. Mauricio Bártoli, journalist editor of Clarín Rural and TN Campo also participated in this case.
This panel has been marked with a star Frederick MayerCEO and founder of the AgTech Club; Nicholas LoriaLATAM user experience and innovation leader at Corteva; Florence BedacarratzMarketing Manager for the Southern Cone of FMC; Marcello Testaproducer, contractor and president of Agrícola Testa; Yesica Chazarreta, research professor at UNNOBA and CONICET (INTA Pergamino) fellow; AND Rodrigo Poncedirector of technology and product (CPO and CTO) of Nera.
The cycle has primary support from Telecom, OSDE and DESA, as well as sponsorship from Afarte and Pan American Energy, plus sponsorship from Corteva, FMC and Nera. It was streamed this Thursday from Clarin.com. The contents are shared simultaneously on social networks.
innovative leadership
Those who bet on the digitization of agriculture are convinced that it is a phenomenon that is here to stay. “We think of digitization as the sixth linguistic revolution in human history. Since we communicated with gestures, we learned to write and with numbers. We put scientific language together. That was 500 years ago, the last part. Today we have the digital language From here we can organize ourselves in a completely different way“, contextualizes Mayer.
A challenge is the gap still exists in Internet access between the countryside and the city. According to ITU data (2021), a global view refers to the fact that while urban connectivity is 76%, in the rural sector it is only 39%. And while in Europe the gap is 7% (87% of urban connectivity and 80% of rural connectivity) in America the gap rises to 23% (83% of urban connectivity and just 60% of rural connectivity).
All in all, Mayer says that “the Argentine countryside is at the forefront of digitization. The state has been so hostile to Argentine agriculture that to survive it had to gain competitiveness, speed of adoption, resource efficiencyeven with more efficient techniques, which reduce the carbon footprint”.
Loria agrees. “We are a model for the rest of the producers in the world”, He says. And it raises two pillars: innovation and accessibility, which then translate into specific products, such as the Enlist system, the result of years of research, which is now offered as a solution to producers for weed control”.
Alike, Testa testifies to his experience in the lot, now managed by remote control. “It does not occur to us to sow without an automatic pilot. The contractor is a rapid adapter of technologies. We are using a digital platform for the management of agricultural machinery. It is something very simple, but it performs the function and we can know the annual hours of each engine, the working hours of the personnel, the fuel consumption per batch, per crop”.
Bedacarratz is convinced of this “The Argentinian manufacturer is a born innovator. He has been applying new technologies, new seeds, new systems for years.” And he recounted his experience with ARC, a tool for predicting disease or weed germination and also pest monitoring. today we have a request from the manufacturer, they are motivated, they see value in these tools… I think that’s the most important thing”.
He believes that “the technology must have a value for the manufacturer that allows it to do so be more efficientincrease your profitability and, of course, be eco friendly”.
Other key tools on the digitization of agriculture are financial. In this sense Ponce distinguishes three tendencies: the digitization Properly speaking, which implies “connecting the agricultural and livestock producer with financial institutions or with all payment and financing options, is a challenge. Nera is working on it”.
At the same time, he notes “the power of data. We have a lot of data, which is very valuable for generating and making good decisions. But the same is not necessarily true of financial management. We work on this aspect, we want to help you have all the information in one place, whether it’s the balance you have in the bank, the balance in a cereal wallet… And from there you can compare, analyze, and make a good decision that fits the production model, the business model that each manufacturer has”
Also highlight the customizationunderstood as a range of options: “being able to adapt everything to do with finances, with payments, with options, with alternatives and adapt it to each person’s business model is absolutely important. We try to contribute in this sense. We have nearly 26,000 different options. This is personalization, at your fingertips.”
The results are visible. In Argentina, there is corn this year because the late corn was developed five years ago, because there is practically no corn this year due to drought. On the other hand, for having developed this innovation from the producers, to test the later dates, we have corn in Argentina this year.
In this regard, Chazarreta considers it many times manufacturers promote innovations before arriving at scientific formulation. It takes into account that “for 2008, the area of late corn was zero. And the first reports we have of crops grown this way in Argentina are from 2012.
We have to provide this information from the scientific system: the universities, from INTA, from CONICET. We need to generate information that can get to manufacturers quickly, because the adoption of technology is very, very fast. They don’t wait to read a scientific paper that takes many years to write. We need fast tools that reach the manufacturer immediately, because there are very innovative manufacturers.
Low marginal cost investments
Speaking of the investments needed to adapt to this technological change, and based on the profitability of the agricultural sector, Mayer points out that “in essence, digitization has a zero marginal cost. Every new user, every new service, has no marginal cost.
In this regard, he believes that “conceptually it’s not about saying I have to buy a new car, I have to buy a new field, I have to invest a large sum of money that I don’t know how I’m going to depreciate it later.”
Rather consider this This is a change of mind. He concludes that “the big challenge is being able to dedicate time to him, with how uncomfortable every change is. Of course, it is necessary to accompany it with some economic investment, but the big question is to be able to stop, to be able to set up a workspace within organizations with data, so that the company is then driven by data and not by mere intuition or experience, as was done before”.
With all, The pursuit of sustainability is also associated with consumer demand. “We think not only of a producer who must produce more and better, but also of those who demand food and wonder how it is produced, where it comes from. This is why digital helps a lot”, reflects Loria.
To continue promoting new militants of this ongoing revolution “Access to connectivity is important”highlights Bedacarratz.
Another challenge is to generate economic incentives for those working with good agricultural practices. For now, Testa says “that They are not a cost but an investment”. And ensures that she pays off.
Source: Clarin
