Monsanto prepares launch of digital services for agriculture in Brazil

Biotechnology giant Monsanto will introduce digital services for agriculture in Brazil within 12 to 18 months, opening a new front for the company, which is primarily recognized for the development of genetically-modified seeds. The analysis services package will provide data on planting and harvesting, initially focusing on corn and soybean farms, which will be made available during the 2017/18 or 2018/19 season.

 

In the 2016/17 season, the system is being tested by 100 farmers invited by the company in Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and Bahia. 
 

The Monsanto system consists of a set of sensors installed on agricultural machinery, connected by tablets and computers, collecting performance data that will be later sent to Monsanto servers, where information is crossed and analyzed.

 

The concept is that farmer should have reports, with maps and geographic coordinations of each property, indicating the performance of machines and productive potential of each area of the farm, to allow an evaluation of how to boost productivity. “The potential for increasing productivity is very high,” said Rodrigo Santos, a Monsanto official in South America.

 

The costs to be charged have not been set. The Monsanto project similar to other multinational companies, such as machinery manufacturer John Deere and seed and agrochemical company Basf, which also offers services such as the gathering of data and analysis for farmers.

 

In the United States, a platform named Climate FieldView is being offered commercially, and is used on 37 million hectares by 100,000 farmers. The United States planted a total of 173 million hectares, including 70 million hectares of corn and soybeans, in 2016.