Technological Trends in Agriculture

Technological advances in recent decades have created a new era for agriculture. These advances have transformed this industry and have helped it to have more and more precision, adaptation and better quality of food. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution and the appearance of the tractor in the 20th century, agriculture underwent a drastic change, as it went from harvesting grain by hand to using machines that facilitated work in the field.

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Currently, we are living in an era of essential technological advances whose main mission is to increase the production and quality of food for a world population that is growing every day. This mission entails several challenges that are increasingly difficult to manage, such as climate change, global pandemics, trade relations, among other challenges. 

Classification of Technological Advances in Agriculture

The use of these different technologies in the agricultural sector has a great impact on the final price of the product, on the quality, the reduction of contaminants and discharges, on an improvement in the control of the agricultural exploitation and on an increase in the quality of the food. Advances in agricultural technology can be classified into three large sectors: engineering and robotics, telecommunications, big data and biotechnology.

 

One of the most notorious aspects of agrotechnological progress is the evolution of motor tools. Thanks to modern tractors, the optimization of harvesters, the improvement of lighter and more resistant alloys have helped the farmer to carry out their tasks more quickly and efficiently. 

Another advance in robotics and engineering that has been of great help in recent years in agriculture has been the creation and implementation of drones. These devices consist of a small remotely controlled aerial vehicle that can have different specialized mechanisms incorporated, such as cameras or irrigation systems.

The use of drones has made it possible to obtain better control in plantations, since they have the ability to identify the needs of crops, make more precise measurements, know and estimate the yield of plantations, detect pests, optimize the use of fertilizers , among other. However, drones would be nothing without advances in connectivity, telecommunications and big data, since these allow large-volume information to be collected about parameters and instructions so that they can be analyzed in real time. 

The latest technology in connectivity is 5G technology, forming a more reliable connection everywhere. Geolocation and GPS technology are essential in agriculture as they help control the precision and position of robots and machinery. These also collect information necessary for the automation of agricultural processes.

Regarding the technological advances that refer to the management of big data, today, there are specialized software that in combination with other technologies enhance the process of production and export of crops. By incorporating production management and export control software, there are many benefits that farmers and agricultural companies, farms, producers or cooperatives can derive from these specialized systems. Among some of them we can find: 

  • Raw material reception management for processing.
  • Management of production cycles.
  • General control plan for the daily production process.
  • Management of production remnants for processing. 
  • Management of product rejections.
  • packaging management.
  • Control of finished product and management of warehouses or storage.
  • Local and international office management.
  • Export tracking control.
  • routing control finished product delivery.

Finally, we have biotechnology, which has not only been a great advance in the medical or pharmaceutical field, but has also given a great turn to agriculture. Biotechnology is one of the most innovative sciences of recent times. This flourishing discipline holds great promise for the future of this industry and its consumption. Some of the benefits that this new science has brought to agriculture are: 

  • Biotechnological products can increase the production and quality of farms economically and efficiently.
  • Crops that use this technology are capable of easily adapting to all types of environments.
  • It increases the resistance of crops to pests and other diseases without the need to resort to other polluting and problematic products.

DTE Online It is a great ally of the advancement of technology in the agro-industrial sector. For this reason, we offer specialized software such as Zaphyrus Production Lines © that help farmers of all sizes to be part of the digital age thanks to the automation and digitization of their production processes. Interested in learning more about how to boost your production?

¡Contact us to find out how we can help you!

 

Bibliography: 

Tecnología utilizada en agricultura: Descubre los últimos avances. (2020, julio 20). Recuperado de https://www.probelte.es/noticia/es/tecnologia-utilizada-en-agricultura-descubre-los-ultimos-avances/159

Pizarro, C. (2015, septiembre 02). La tecnología utilizada en la agricultura. Recuperado de https://agriculturers.com/la-tecnologia-utilizada-en-la-agricultura/