Digital Technologies: Game Changer in Agriculture

In a world where digitization has gained ground, and a lot of processes (if not all) are done digitally, it's necessary to know what Digital Technologies are.

According to the Department of Training and Education, Victoria: "Digital Technologies are electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data." Digital technology seeks to ensure that a large amount of data is processed and easily transferable across digital platforms. Now, it's necessary to know the forms it can take.

There are different examples of Digital Technology, few of which are:

1. Website

2. Blockchain Technology

3. Social Media

4. Artificial Intelligence

5. Robotics

6. Drones

7. Blogs

8. 3G, 4G, 5G

9. Financial Technology

10. Cloud computing

It's important to remember that there are different other examples too, all of which are seemingly relevant to our daily lives.

Now that we've become slightly accustomed to Digital Technologies, the conversation now begs the question: "How are Digital Technologies of benefit to Agriculture?" Better put, how does it change the face of Agriculture?

Agriculture has grown from the crude and drudgery way of life, to a modern and easier lifestyle, but that's not all! The infusion of emerging digital systems with agriculture, which is called Digital Agriculture, is proving to drive Agriculture through a clearer path.

The remaining part of this article will seek to explain how Digital Agriculture is seeming to be a game changer for Agriculture.

Precision Agriculture is a form of Farm Management that analyses information necessary for the soil, animals and crops, then ensures that they receive adequate amounts of what they need for optimum productivity and health. With Precision Agriculture, less input will lead to more output. Here are some systems in Precision Agriculture that has made farming practices easier:

1. Modern Land Preparation Tools

2. Guidance Systems 

3. Yield Monitoring Systems

4. Data Integration Systems

5. Water Management Systems

It might interest you to know that the systems above utilise different forms of digital technologies, which makes Precision Agriculture the result of Digital Agriculture. This is in case of using GIS (Geographic Information System) and GPS (Global Positioning System) in Agriculture, Satellite imagery, Aerial Imagery (Drones and other forms), Online data, and many more.

While less input might sound like less money, it actually doesn't always seem like that. The cost of implementing some forms of digital Technologies, might be the reason why it hasn't been rampant in some parts of the world. Also, the cost of maintenance and running costs after implementation might be a cause for fear. With government intervention and agricultural institutes through funding, these costs are lessened on farmers to ensure that food productivity is at its peak and food can be available and affordable for everyone.

With the dynamic growth of technological systems, new forms of Digital Technologies will be available in the coming years. Hopefully, it'll also be affordable and it can attract the attention of more people to the beauty of Agricultural practices.

Author:  Tobiloba Agboola

Graphics: Timileyin Oladayo

© Food and Agricultural Technology Unit -PARG 2021. 

Edition 1, Volume 1, Article 2