The concept of AgTech has been taking over news headlines lately. Everyone is talking about the future impact that it will make on farming and how it is bound to solve the biggest problems in the agriculture sector such as the growing demand for more produce that is caused by a rapidly growing population. But what exactly does AgTech mean? We hear the term thrown around and tied to the Internet of Things, Precision Agriculture, Digital Twin technology and apps in smartphones. Well, the reality is that the concept of agriculture technology entails every technology or the latest innovation that is specifically or partially designed to be useful in farming. However, with all the newest innovations such as flying drones that will monitor crop health, ground-level monitors that will help farmers predict soil health and technology that will alter crop DNA to prevent diseases and increase the total amount of produce – are we ready to embrace all of this? Let’s talk about that.

What Is The Actual Practicality of AgTech

Challenge Advisory has been responsible for the success of hundreds of AgTech companies whether it would be helping them raise funding or guiding them towards fully establishing their innovations in the marketplace. Because of this, it is fair to say that we fully support every single innovation that has the potential to help make the lives of farmers easier. However, we do realize that a fair amount of tech concepts that are being released into the market every single day do not yet have the practicality professional growers are looking for. Only a small percentage of agriculture technology concepts prove themselves to be valuable in the current market whilst others are being forced back into the development stage. To solve this problem, we are relentlessly working on helping AgTech startups make data-driven decisions that will hopefully match the needs of farmers. If this can’t be achieved, innovative startups will have a harder time pushing their concepts towards mass adoption.

Older Farmer Demographics and Their Supposed Reluctance For Adopting AgTech

It is obvious that one of the biggest reasons why farmers are not yet ready to embrace AgTech is the lack of understanding about it. It is also important to state that we don’t blame them – sticking to what works is a good decision. However, what the older demographics fail to realize is that unwillingness to adapt can hinder their career. With the growing population size and rising competition that has the budget to adopt new innovations, small local farmers are bound to be driven out of business if they persist on not embracing change. As global leaders in AgTech adoption, we must continue working on raising awareness and provide farmers with the right financial circumstances for them to be able to improve their farming processes – this is what will ultimately solve this issue.

The Mass Adoption of Agriculture Technology and What Needs To Be Done To Achieve It

In order to make the agriculture sector ready for AgTech, achieving mass adoption will ensure global transformation regarding how professional growers approach farming altogether. However, apart from increasing understanding about the subject and giving farmers the financial ability to acquire new equipment, we must put our focus on agriculture technology startups themselves. Challenge Advisory is constantly bringing awareness towards sticking to innovations that have already proved themselves to be valuable in the eyes of farmers and doubling down on their development. This is the only path to success because the alternative is to continue focusing on “shiny objects” or concepts that sound promising without achieving true progress in making it all happen.