Advancing technology could be used in the near future in order to increase crop yields as well as sut the use of fertiliser and make farming more efficient. Using technology in this way could help one of the oldest industries on the planet more sustainable.
The farming industry is thought to be one of the least digitized industries, with past attempts to modernise and make crops more sustainable such as GM foods demonised and rejected in popular opinion. It is therefore important to make sure that any future advancements in farming technology are applied in a way that does not worry the consumer.
This was one of the topics of discussion at the World Agricultural Forum held in Singapore. At this event, the panelists spent time looking into the best ways that technology can be used in agriculture in order to meet the growing demand as the world’s population increases. Figures have shown that 70% more food needs to be produced in oer to feed the global population, which is also meant to increase. By 2050 it has been predicted that the worldâs population will reach 9 billion.
In order to tackle the challenge of feeding a growing population, technology will be required in order to make farming more efficient and increase production. However in order to utilize the developments in technology, it is important that the use of this technology is accepted by the population, and not turned away like with GM projects. In order to gain acceptance for the increased use of technology, communication with the public is essential. With GM technology, the way the industry talks about innovation was not considered which led to a lack of public support. This canât be the case going forward with digitisation, as the industry need to consider how innovation is discussed with the public, who are the consumers of the agricultural industry.
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