What will the digital future of agriculture in Russia be like?

"Digit" in farms and factories

In the early 2000s, large agricultural holdings began to appear in Russia. In the mid-2010s, companies got the opportunity to invest in technology: sensors for soil, weather, and plant health appeared in the fields, and agronomists received applications that aggregated a wide range of data from the fields. According to the roadmap for the implementation of high technologies in agriculture of the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) in 2019, a third of Russian farms will use the Internet of Things and Big Data in their work.

For example, in crop production, big data allows monitoring the state of fields and prompts farmers about the optimal timing for planting, watering, and fertilizing. And with the help of drones, you can see the condition of the soil and crops and thus determine if there is enough water or fertilizer on the site.

The Russian company "Agronout" has developed a solution for differentiated fertilization. This technology allows agricultural machines to change the dose of fertilizers on the go, precisely matching them to a specific area of ​​the field. To do this, the company makes the distribution of field plots according to fertility rates, the system calculates the fertilizer application rates for different zones of the field. The technology can be used on any land, and the economic effect of its implementation is potentially about 330 million rubles. per year per 100 thousand hectares. For example, according to the forecasts of representatives of the agricultural holding "Kuban", where a pilot with "Agronout" was implemented, the economic effect from the introduction of differentiated fertilization will be from 50 million rubles. per year on an area of ​​45.7 thousand hectares.

The first robotic plant for the production of uncooked smoked sausages of the Cherkizovo group is already operating in Russia, which employs only 150 people instead of 700, as in a traditional production of similar capacity. The enterprise will be able to meet 30% of Russia's demand for raw smoked sausages. The launch of the plant in Kashira proved the viability of the concept of a single-product plant, and now Cherkizovo plans to replicate the solutions developed. Although many technologies used in a robot plant are not something new for Europe and the world, this is the first time such a solution is used in Russia.

From robots to a platform, from a farm to an agricultural network

A 2017 McKinsey study found that agriculture ranks fourth among all sectors of the economy in terms of automation - the potential for automation in agriculture is higher than in construction, insurance, and trade. The farm management software niche alone, according to AgFunder estimates, could soon reach $ 1.6 billion.

Many startups offer technologies for the agro-industrial complex:

the Swiss company EcoRobotix has developed a robot that weeds;

engineering company Robert Bosch in Germany and startup Agrointelli in Denmark are working on robotic precision spraying systems.

Large companies also offer technological solutions for the market:

John Deere has projects for the automation of equipment with a whole staff of programmers;

Agco has autonomous Xavier robots for planting, tending, and harvesting;

Syngenta has a portfolio of startups that develop robots and software for agriculture.

However, numerous innovations in agribusiness are loosely coupled, and this becomes a problem for both farmers and for the advancement of technologies.

Partial automation cannot completely solve the problem of farmers, since getting rid of labor by itself will reduce the cost of production by only 5-15%. It is necessary to create complex systems in order to:

unite into a single network of farmers, manufacturers of agricultural machinery, fertilizer producers, agronomists, logistics operators.

What is the harvest of innovation on Russian soil?

For example, as part of the Farm to Consumer initiative, blockchain is designed to help companies trace the entire supply chain of agricultural products and gain full access to the history of the origin of products.

If any abnormalities are detected - a rise in temperature or heavy rain - the system sends a notification to the farmer about the risk of developing a crop infection. The app also allows farmers to cut their use of unnecessary pesticides by 15%. The Waterwatch cooperative expects that by the end of 2019, the application will be used by about 1 million farmers around the world.

Working on a single digital platform allows you to reduce the cost of resources for large companies, and for small farms - to get access to cheaper and higher-quality resources, as well as guaranteed sales of products.