DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: 7 Digital models that we will need to drive to ensure that Brazilian agribusiness remains the most competitive in the world

I have always wondered about digital transformation advances in business, especially in Brazilian agribusiness. I never tire of saying that agribusiness is the most dynamic and competitive sector of the Brazilian economy. I have always been faced with several questions about what it is and how companies can use digital technologies to continue to be at the forefront of the market. As market shapers, we need to be ahead of these technologies.

Think about the companies that have transformed the way we consume products or services and what do these companies like Nubank, Netflix, Uber, Airbnb, Google, Tesla, Spotify, and so many others have in common, and can they teach us about the topic?

The best way to understand digital transformation came from an insight from Gartners: The 9 Essential activities for successful innovation where they ask a question:

What do we want from this digital transformation?

In this question we have only two answers: Either we want to transform, or we want to optimize our business.

The two answers are keys to knowing the actions we must take, for example.

If we want to transform the business: We must think of New Business Models as digital marketplaces that meet the consumer, acquire startups with disruptive models, think of new digital products, connect services, or better measure sales as subscription models, collaboration, communities, ecosystem, etc.

But if we want to optimize our business, we must think about increasing productivity, improving automation, increasing existing revenues through better data orchestration, or increasing the customer experience with greater empowerment, greater customization, and personalization.

Being pragmatic will help us a lot in how we leverage our industry for digital transformation and avoid wasting resources and time.

Digital transformation is the main instrument today to make any company competitive in the market.

Some facts according to STARTSE (www.startse.com), an innovation knowledge platform:

• While 68% of companies saw revenue drop amid Covid-19, 90% maintained or expanded their digital transformation budget.

• Companies that had embraced digital transformation most enthusiastically performed better during the pandemic.

• Less than 30% of companies have essential digital capabilities for Digital Transformation such as automated processes or integrated digital ecosystems.

• Less than a third of companies are digitally market-ready.

• 67% of the buyer's journey is now done digitally and 86% of shoppers will pay more for a better experience, so offering unique and integrated experiences (online and offline) will be the key to success going forward.
  

The Digital Transformation process needs to be accompanied by a structural change in the culture of teams and leadership. It is necessary to understand the processes, the routine of the teams, the products, and the customer experience.

According to STARTSE, a digital process is based on three pillars:

• New Technologies: Technologies are now converging (one drives the other forward), exponential, and increasingly cheaper and better.

• New Economy: The new economy is supported by transversal competition (companies of a certain segment taking the market of another segment) and asymmetric competition (companies of different sizes competing for the same market)

• New Management: with so many changes happening at the same time, management must be fast and agile to know how to deal with unpredictability, learn throughout life and develop new skills (Continuous Requalification).
  

In this article, I want to share 7 digital technologies to use and leverage Brazilian agribusiness even more in the coming years, whether to create a digital transformation in our business model or optimize our processes.

1 - Autonomous Vehicles

Vehicles for use in the field without a cabin and without the help of an operator to guide it, are already a reality that has been very well received and used by several farmers throughout the national territory.

Autonomous tractors have gained even more production power, and for at least three years they have been used significantly in the field. In addition to representing an important increase in agricultural production, this equipment also presents certain ease of use, since they can be controlled and programmed to carry out activities by tablets or smartphones and always monitored through satellites.

Although the dream of having a self-driving car on the roads and streets around the world is close, with prototypes already created and in operation for testing since 2019, in the field this is already a completely viable reality, after all, it has greater ease of regulation and operation on the farms because it has a more restricted flow of people in its handling and maintenance.

The start has already been given and companies like CASE, JACTO, JOHN DEERE, and many others are investing millions of dollars in startups that are creating services and solutions for these autonomous vehicles. This digital transformation model has already inspired hundreds of companies to specialize in diverse categories. There are hundreds of opportunities for providers of cameras and radars, fleet management, artificial intelligence, maps, and cargo monitoring, among many others.

2 - 5G networks

Another technology that will dramatically contribute to the digital transformation in agribusiness is 5G. Operating by radio waves, but with a much greater mobile width than the previous ones, 5G networks will be the basis for other technologies, such as autonomous vehicles, to function properly.

High-speed internet will play a key role in the advancement of services and infrastructure and should massively encourage the use of connected devices (IoT), in addition to smartphones and mobile applications, use of, the connection between production units, drones, weather stations, smart silos, sensing image, pest and disease prediction, and smart irrigation

In the next 15 years, it is estimated that Brazilian agribusiness can have a significant increase in its revenues. With only 23% of the rural area covered with the mobile internet signal, the country could increase the value of agricultural production by up to R$ 100 billion with the expansion of the telephony signal. The Ministry of Communications plans to install 44,000 antennas by 2029.

Source: Embrapa

3- Artificial intelligence

Robots that write news for newspapers, review legal contracts, and even replace agronomists and veterinarians in some roles. Artificial intelligence is already widely present around the world and has the potential to drive up to $14 trillion by 2035, according to Accenture.

With an eye on the opportunities and competitive advantage that this technology generates, 37% of Brazilian companies are already using AI in their service strategies, such as voice technologies for customer interaction, process automation, and other initiatives. Brazil is already among the five countries in the world ranking of technology use and is on the list of countries that dedicate themselves exclusively to AI, according to the study Global scenario of Artificial Intelligence.

In Agribusiness, the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) already allows the monitoring of crops by satellite images, spraying by drones, automation of machines, and obtaining complete data from weather forecasts. The set of these resources can optimize time, avoid losses, ensure sustainable production, and improve crop plantation and business management.

While in the past decisions were made without so much information, today, the application of AI serves the areas of diagnosis and predictability. With connected farms, agribusiness managers have access to advanced weather data, not only on rainfall but also on wind speeds and other phenomena that can positively or negatively influence the crop. Advanced knowledge of the chemical composition of soils, in addition to genetic improvements, are other possible factors to be measured thanks to the application of AI.

Source: Embrapa

4 - 3D Printing

3D printing is also among the technologies that will promote Digital Transformation in agribusiness in the coming years. According to Goldman Sachs, there are two object modeling formats: Fused Deposition Modeling, FDM, and SLA (Stereo Litho Graphy). FDM is done entirely by computer using a system of superimposed layers, compiled by printing software. The SLA, on the other hand, creates the objective through the solidification of the resin in contact with the light emitted by a laser beam.

With the possibility of reducing the costs of manufacturing products, prototypes, spare parts, or others by up to 65%, 3D printing has already been used to print spare parts for tractors and agricultural machinery, which greatly helps the farmer being in distant places does not need to stop planting, application of crop inputs or harvest, just print the parts.

In addition, farmers can print work tools, instruments, and accessories to meet specific needs and create prototypes for testing, all in a much shorter period than it would take if a specialist company was hired to do so, and at a significantly higher cost. short. They can also be used in the production of prostheses for animals, feeders and drinkers, transport boxes, parts for irrigation, and elements for the manufacture of devices for obtaining energy, such as wind and conventional generators. All these possibilities can contribute to increasing productivity, reducing costs, and making the agricultural production process more efficient. But not only that.

In the future, with the advancement of technology and its cheapness, it may be possible to print vaccines and medicines to treat animals on rural properties and even produce the components necessary to erect structures such as greenhouses, warehouses, farms, and buildings.

Source: Embrapa, Farm Progress, My Farm Life, Global News.

5 - Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is nothing more than the technology that allows bringing the real world closer to digital dimensions. Through technological devices such as smartphones, cameras, and tablets, it is possible to create a real environment capable of manipulating virtual objects to fulfill a certain task or activity.

In agribusiness I see infinite possibilities, for example: with the use of a tablet or smartphone and with the right application, the producer will be able, for example, to identify pests and diseases, including checking the nutritional balance of their plants.

In recent studies, Wageningen University in Amsterdam has carried out validation tests for a pioneering augmented reality system for plants. The startup responsible for the project, Plant Vision, developed a system in which it is possible to use a smartphone to see what is going on inside a plant and evaluate the most appropriate solutions.

In practice, the system makes use of infrared sensors in cell phone cameras for night vision and thermal measurement, like devices used by police officers to detect materials in walls, for example. With this, it is possible to evaluate the health of the plants in a practical and accessible way for the producer, using only the cell phone, according to the project developer, Ryan Hooks, augmented reality will allow the producer to see the problem three days in advance, increasing the efficiency of treatments and productivity in general.

In Brazil, Sumitomo was the first company to use this technology to launch an insecticide and thus help the farmer to understand how the product works and to be more assertive in its use. It could be the simplification of the leaflets.

Source: Rural Life.

6 - Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) supports promising Digital Transformation models for agribusiness. Through connected (and wireless) devices, it is possible to create a multitude of solutions that communicate between objects and humans, using smart sensors and software that transmit information to the network.

Some well-known examples are Smartwatches that connect to smartphones to trigger message alerts, emails, or to display heart rate data, and Smart homes - smart refrigerators, automated shopping systems, connected television, and lighting to the smartphone.

In Agribusiness, the use and possibilities are endless, such as:

Telemetry

Through the IoT, it is possible to monitor tractors and other machinery remotely, using sensors and cloud computing services. In general terms, farms now have access to data such as equipment temperature, location, engine speed, fuel consumption, and quantity of inputs. This data, in turn, is sent to analytics platforms that transform it into insights, bringing business intelligence and decision-making optimization. An example is a predictive maintenance, which allows the detection of abnormalities before they even appear.

Meteorology

Food production depends a lot on the climate, as it directly influences higher or lower productivity. Through climate sensors and violet ray irradiation meters, farmers obtain more accurate data about the climate at the planting and harvesting site, making it possible to measure inputs and have more efficient control over the need to intensify irrigation in cases of water stress.

Monitoring animal husbandry

For places dedicated to animal husbandry, technology enters in monitoring their performance. In this use case, through intelligent platforms, caregivers can dynamically analyze the status of livestock within their natural habitat. That is, the animals continue to roam freely in the pasture and the indicators are obtained by reading an electronic tag that sends the indexes to a data network. Once this is done, the platform processes the information and provides the team with key numbers, such as the rate of weight gain, whether there are signs of disease, and whether you are drinking enough water, among other important data for the healthy development of the animals.

Satellite images

One of the IoT trends in agribusiness is the use of satellites for various actions, such as pest identification and location, planting area analysis, vegetation density, and irrigation planning.
Intelligent video surveillance on farms

The connections between different systems and devices that IoT provides also benefit site security and performance. Through intelligent video monitoring resources, the farmer has full control of possible threats as the system can be designed to issue warnings, either by audio, by cell phone message, or by e-mail, when it detects something out of standards.

Source: https://sealtelecom.com.br/iot-no-agronegocio-a-tecnologia-no-campo/

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