We’re in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is spawning mind-boggling new technology, transforming the world in ways we could never have imagined in years gone by.
Take the humble bean. As you know, it’s a legume, and legumes provide much of their own nitrogen through the process of nitrogen fixation. Legumes provide nutrients to bacteria in return for nitrogen harvested from the air, and as a result need far less synthetic fertiliser.
In recent years, scientists in the US have been ‘teaching’ non-legume crops the same trick. By rearranging the DNA of a given microbe, they have succeeded in getting crops such as wheat and maize to source nitrogen from the air.
It sounds like science fiction, but it’s not. It’s happening, and at least two commercial organisations, Joyn Bio and Pivot Bio, are well on their way to releasing products to achieve this.
Another breakthrough has scientists shaking their heads in disbelief. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have boosted rice yields by up to 40% by giving a Chinese variety a second copy of one of its own genes.
Genetic modification has delivered some incredible things, but never before have yield-increases of this order been achieved.
The technology behind these two amazing achievements is beyond most of us, but many other more easily understood innovations have the potential to make farming significantly more profitable.
Devices ‘talking’ to each other
The Internet of Things, where gadgets are programmed to communicate with each other via the Internet or the cloud, is already in daily use by many of us. For example, it’s common today to find smart watches communicating directly with smart phones and PCs.
These gadgets and electronic sensors, which in the past would save their data into a memory for access later, can now send real-time data.
Smart sensors linked to cell phones have many brilliant applications for agriculture. Here are just a few:
- Real-time warnings can be delivered by SMS when weather conditions threaten crops and livestock, enabling farmers to take immediate steps to minimise damage. If fruit crops are threatened by frost, for example, turning on sprinklers can counter this, and this can even be programmed to take place automatically at certain thresholds.
- Weather stations in greenhouses can automatically adjust climate conditions as necessary.
- Application rates of seeds, fertiliser and pesticides are monitored in real-time, and warnings of misapplications issued as they happen.
Precision farming can be taken a step further, with application rates being programmed to change as equipment moves and crop and soil requirements change.
Irrigation flow and duration can be monitored and remotely managed, with pumps being turned on or off.
Improved drones for optimal crop production
Drones have been used for some time now to survey crops, especially tree crops. At present, they can provide plant counts and the location of trees under stress. Scientists and drone makers are hard at work developing photographic techniques and software capable of identifying outbreaks and intensity of specific pests and diseases, and even providing crop estimates.
Are you in the game, or on the bench?
How are you keeping up with all these technological developments? Are you simply taking them as they come, or do you have a plan of action that keeps you and your team up to speed?
When last did you visit a leading South African farmer or travel abroad to look at production technology in other parts of the world?
Are you seeking out and attending conferences, seminars or training sessions on some of the topics mentioned here? Do you peruse the latest industry magazines and ponder the new technologies they cover?
The best production figures achieved today are often the result of optimising the latest technology.
Never before has there been a more fertile time for technological innovation than now. Don’t get left behind!
Peter Hughes is a business and management consultant.
