5 Trends Farmers and Tech Companies Are Betting The Farm On
In 2021, AgTech had significant growth, writes Jennifer Kite-Powell at Forbes. According to Finistere Ventures’ 2020 AgriFood Tech Investment Review, developed in collaboration with PitchBook Data, the total global investment in agrifood tech was $22.3 billion, with five billion going to AgTech and $17.3 billion in food tech. The report also finds the market is growing at a 50% compound annual growth rate.
In the controlled environment agriculture like indoor vertical farms, analysis from Allied Market Research projected growth investment in 2018 of $2.4 billion to 18 billion by 2026. And in May 2021, indoor vertical farming startup, Bowery, raised $300 million.
The second of the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development goals is to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Although the UN hopes to accomplish this goal by 2030, Sachin Gupta, Global Agribusiness Industry Leader at IBM, says it will require a profound change of the global food and agriculture system.
“While this change will be complex and difficult, technology has a key role to play,” said Gupta. “Emerging technologies [..] are being used to improve agriculture outputs for small-holder farmers to big agribusiness players in a way that promotes sustainable development.”
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Artificial Intelligence
According to Gupta, one of those key drivers that continue to change agriculture is artificial intelligence (AI).
“AI will drastically improve sustainable farming on land by helping farmers to forecast weather conditions,” said Gupta. “Farming is a risky business. Farmers worldwide have always wrangled with weather – drought, flooding, or something in between. Stabilizing food security is a global priority.”
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