Adoption of technology in agriculture has led to significant improvements in the agricultural productivity, buoying a substantial progress in reducing the global hunger. However, the Global Hunger Index report shows that in many parts of the world under nutrition and hunger still continue to exist.     

Here are some of the latest AgTech trends that are reshaping the future agriculture and are perceived to feed the 7 billion odd world population in the coming years through precision agriculture.     

1. Big Data 

Big Data is expected to revolutionize the farming scenario by providing farmers with detailed insights into their work.  Machines are collecting the data to estimate crop yields, fertilizer availability, and cost savings and to analyse the supply and demands in the market. Unpredictable natural calamities always hamper the productivity of the agriculture. But this was the case before the advent of Big Data. Big Data technologies can predict the natural disasters by analysing the past and present data, helping farmers be prepared for the unforeseen situations like floods, droughts etc. 

2. IoT 

Application of IoT and sensor technology in the agriculture helps farmers monitor essential parameters like soil health, weather conditions, crop growth and humidity. Water scarcity has been the biggest problem for the farming community across the globe and particularly in India. IoT based smart water management systems provide a solution to water crisis by monitoring the water utilization. Implementation of IoT also helps plan optimum irrigation strategies and best practices to preserve the scarce water resource.

3. Agribots

One can firmly say that swiftness in the agriculture today is the phenomenon of Robotics. Agribots are helping farmers by mimicking the manual agricultural tasks like pruning, seeding, spraying, thinning, harvesting, picking etc allowing them to focus on yield productivity improvement. Agricultural robots perform tasks more accurately and faster than human labour resulting in higher yields in relatively less time, helping farmers address the labour shortage.     

4. Vertical Farming

Vertical Farming, the practice of agriculture in a smaller, vertical and controlled environment is no more a fiction now. Rapid urbanisation has decreased the available land for agricultural purposes. Vertical farming is the most sustainable form of agriculture as it enables the crop production in limited land with almost 70 percent less water when compared to conventional agriculture. It is suitable to urban areas where arable land and water resources are limited. Today, many AgiTech companies are coming up with innovative technologies that enable office spaces and buildings to provide food for the occupants. 

5. Wearable Technologies

Smart wearables for livestock that are no different from human smart watches are coming to transform the cattle maintenance. New smart ear tags for cows would enable farmer to track the movements of his cattle and monitor the health condition remotely helping farmers save time and money. These devises also decrease the human labour required to maintain the livestock.  

Unlike the past, today, agriculture is seen as a sector that is incorporating new technologies in agricultural practices. With these advancements in the technology, agriculture industry is gearing up for the fourth industrial revolution to accelerate the productivity with available resources.