Brazilian agribusiness, which represents approximately 25% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 50% of the country's exports, has been standing out on the international scene for having a series of factors that make the country a favorable place for all related businesses. to agriculture and its production chains. The 388 million hectares of fertile and highly productive arable land, the diverse climate, regular rainfall, abundant solar energy and almost 13% of all fresh water on the planet make Brazil one of the world leaders in agricultural production and exports. And this current scenario places Brazil as potentially the largest agricultural country in the world in the next ten years.
Currently, agribusiness is the main engine of the Brazilian economy. Both due to these previously mentioned factors and the high technology used in the field, which make it a modern, efficient and competitive sector at a global level.
The internet, social networks, mobile devices, among many other instant communication tools are signs of how much technology has advanced in recent years. And the use of these new technologies is increasingly important for increasing productivity in the field and, consequently, for the profitability of agricultural producers.
The advancement of technologies, access to the internet and the progressive use of social networks by Brazilian consumers are factors that influence the use of technology in the sector, and are changing the way market players interact. According to a survey released in 2017 by the Brazilian Precision Agriculture Commission (CBAP), 67% of agricultural properties in the country already use some type of technological innovation in their production processes, inside or outside the field. And this reveals how, in the current scenario in our country, digital transformation can be the answer to the various challenges of agribusiness.
In Brazil, there are several challenges to be overcome so that agriculture can grow and reach new heights in the digital era. The growing demand for food stands out due to the increase in the world population, which has generated a race to increase production, and the search for perfect DNA in livestock farming, through detailed studies of herd and breed genetics. On the one hand, there is the search for genetic improvement, which has shaken the research sector. On the other, the search for better management of activities in the field, from the planting plan to the management of productivity by planted area. And this involves investments in sophisticated machinery, soil variability studies, professional qualification, among others. Challenges such as climate change and restrictions on natural resources, increasing agricultural productivity without expanding the production area and the introduction of family farming in the age of technology also need to be taken into consideration in this era of digital transformation.
With these challenges in mind, several applications and online platforms have emerged to democratize agriculture in Brazil and around the world. These tools offer a space that speeds up marketing, increases companies' efficiency, improves decision-making and reduces costs. In practice, what is happening is a flood of technological innovations that enable and promote a true revolution in the business world and in people's lives. New technologies are presented all the time to the world of agribusiness, inside and outside the field, following consumption and production trends.
Technology increases crop results, as it generates practicality, facilitates the execution of tasks in the daily routine in the field and also helps rural producers to carry out better planning, measurement and use of information and data that optimize production and reduce losses . The current combination of physical, digital and biological technologies has given new meaning to the way we do business, interact and, of course, produce. And it is in this context that, driven by technological resources such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and cognitive computing, Brazilian agribusiness has been adapting its structure in order to strengthen its competitiveness in the international market and make production more sustainable.
New technologies, which not only allow productivity gains but also help reduce the impact on the environment, are already applied in various agribusiness scenarios, such as: production planning, management, harvesting, market access, marketing and transportation. So much so that, currently, there are several solutions on the market for management, with algorithms developed specifically to meet the demands of the sector, favoring agriculture as it is possible to achieve operational objectives, increase productivity on properties, in addition to reducing costs.
Precision agriculture, a practice in which information technology is used based on the principle of soil and climate variability, delivers more efficiency to the field and reduces losses. Farmers currently have advanced machine control solutions with the help of GPS, harvest mapping systems, as well as management software for the entire production chain, which offer agronomic support and greater assertiveness in information, in addition to being able to correct nutritional effects of the soil, using more or less quantity of inputs.
Following this idea, other innovative ways came, such as digitalization, with the possibility of monitoring the climate and defining the best time to plant, optimizing irrigation. The internet of things, which allows access to information generated by machines and stored in the cloud to be able to monitor planting conditions and correct problems during the harvest itself, without having to wait for the next year. Robots, which replace several manual operations with machines that are controlled remotely, thus ensuring more efficiency, less use of inputs and less environmental impact.
In addition, drones have also appeared, which are unmanned aerial vehicles, with which it is possible to monitor the development of the plantation and act more quickly if something unforeseen occurs. And artificial intelligence (AI), which are intelligent machines and systems capable of reasoning, learning, making decisions and solving problems, programmed to apply inputs or irrigation without the need for a professional available to do so.
Furthermore, in this same line of innovation, mobility also appears as an essential factor for the evolution of agriculture, as the use of mobile devices integrated with technological platforms allows for greater knowledge of the rural property management process.
New digital technologies in the field will be decisive in increasing productivity in pastures and crops around the world. A publication by Liga Ventures, released in April 2019, pointed out that the number of startups in Brazil linked to agribusiness is already 307 companies. This is a reflection of the fact that agribusiness has boosted the economy and it is natural that current players in the sector, as well as new companies in the technology area (startups), are alert to opportunities in the segment, in order to stand out in this competitive market. The so-called "agritechs" or "agtechs", technology startups focused on agribusiness, are responsible for a relevant part of the achievements of Brazilian agricultural production in recent years. They promoted a revolution in the countryside, with gains in productivity, quality and income for producers.
The integration and connection of farms through software, systems and technological equipment have become the solution to optimize agricultural production in all its stages. These farms, which produce intelligently, implement technologies that allow you to act with the smallest details on each seed, animal, inputs, plant and animal micronutrients and work with the idea of precision agriculture, are known as smart farms. And digitalization in the field is one of the initial steps towards building these types of farms.
Change is inevitable and necessary for the survival of any business, and in agriculture it is no different. The vast majority of producers have already faced "reality shocks" that made them stop and rethink their activities with more professionalism. This is strongly evident from the acquisition of increasingly modern machines and equipment and also in the adoption of highly technological services and operational processes.
In fact, a point of attention that producers need to pay attention to when trying to make their farms smarter is the implementation of digitalized management systems, which is achieved through the interpretation of a vast amount of data generated from Big Data, captured by IoT devices, sensors, drones, among other technologies already mentioned.
After all, the technology that arrives in the field today is not the same as what we saw years ago. If before the greatest technology was in a more powerful and versatile machine or within a genetically improved seed, today we see that the main technologies capable of changing agriculture are digital. Software that analyzes the ideal condition for irrigation, more assertive and detailed precision agriculture and, of course, agricultural management software. Industry 4.0 applied to agriculture is creating new opportunities that will raise the level of production efficiency.
In this context, it is possible to mention some solutions that bring practicality to agribusiness and that are already available on the market, such as: DigiFarmz, Agrosmart, Tarvos, SprayX, Aegro and AgriHome. DigiFarmz was developed focused on soybean cultivation, which already totals more than 36 million hectares cultivated per year in Brazil, and more than 127 million hectares worldwide, and which continues to suffer from the occurrence of various diseases that compromise grain production. and generation of wealth for the entire agribusiness chain. These soybean diseases cause losses of up to 40% of grain production each year, even with the use of fungicides. Among the main diseases that impact soybean crops are rust, anthracnose, cercospora, target spot and powdery mildew. In addition to diseases, soybean management is complex, mainly due to the many variables that are related. Among these variables are the genetics of the cultivars, the location, control history and presence of inoculum, climate, precipitation, and sowing time. Given this, two agronomists from Rio Grande do Sul, a state with a strong agricultural vocation and the third largest soybean producer, created a startup specialized in helping producers and technicians in the management of grain diseases. Through the DigiFarmz platform, developed since 2016 and launched in 2018, farmers have access to real-time parameters and technical recommendations for soybean cultivation.
Essentially, the DigiFarmz platform uses algorithms integrated with a database of more than a decade of research, annually expanded and validated, in addition to information from each farm and plot. In total, there are 18 biotic and abiotic variables that guarantee precision in the DigiFarmz parameters and that allow the revolution in disease management to be brought to each agronomist, technician and producer in the field, providing information that helps them plan and decide which fungicides to use, what is the best date for each spraying, how many sprays to carry out, which is the best cultivar, among other series of decisions that promise to assist in anti-resistance management and, mainly, focus on optimizing inputs and increasing productivity. And all this with the advantage of being an online tool that is simple to use and can be used without sensors in the field, thus being able to work in different areas across the country, including smaller areas. An important point lies in the fact that, currently, recommendations for fungicides and doses are still made in a generalist manner, without considering the specificities and realities of different regions and cultivars. It is an ineffective practice when we know that Brazil is a continental country, with different conditions and environments. Furthermore, it is imperative to pay attention to the effect that each application has on disease control throughout the crop cycle. Equally important, it is necessary to consider the occurrence of resistance of fungi (pathogens) to fungicides, often generated by mistakes in management decisions. For this reason, DigiFarmz also brings an education pillar, through alerts that present information related to best agronomic practices, with the aim of greater productivity and less pressure on pathogen resistance to fungicides.
It is well known that one of the biggest problems in the production system is related to the lack of information for decision-making in agriculture, since a large part of rural producers' decisions are made based on intuition, resulting in waste and high costs. Based on this, Agrosmart is another startup that emerged with the aim of monitoring and integrating crop data, generating agronomic models with the aim of generating recommendations and information that help in decision-making in relation to irrigation, pests, diseases, planting and harvest. Basically, it presents solutions for optimizing irrigation processes and generating alerts against pest risks in plantations and, in this way, the producer can reduce water consumption and the use of pesticides, increasing production efficiency. And since modern and sustainable agriculture is based on the conscious use of chemical pesticides and the alternative use of crop protection techniques, alternating between chemical control with insecticides and biological control of insect pests is increasingly becoming an interesting way for the protection of crops, reducing pressure on the environment and improving the quality of life of agricultural producers. With automated monitoring of insects considered pests in agriculture, it is possible to collect data that supports the development of control practices for these species.
Currently, traditional methods of monitoring and monitoring these populations in crops require a lot of labor effort to inspect large production areas. Thus, this close monitoring of production is generally practiced only a few times a week at best, unlike technologies that employ automated monitoring, which allow daily and even hourly control of all monitored areas of the property. The advantages of this approach include better management of pests and diseases and the prolongation of resistance of pests and diseases to technologies used in chemical pesticides. They also allow workers to have less exposure to these products, reduce chemical residues in agricultural products and, consequently, help protect the region's natural ecosystem.
And this is precisely the proposal of Tarvos, a startup that seeks to deliver pest detection solutions in a fully automated way, based on data collected from smart traps installed in crops and connected to the internet, offering predictive analysis of pest and disease attacks for the main Brazilian agricultural crops. The system platform is a tool that allows producers to assess and respond to conditions, insect pressure and disease in real time. The automated agricultural pest monitoring system provides daily indications of the occurrence of pests in crops. The precision provided by monitoring data collected directly from the field by smart traps added to the processing of meteorological data on a micro-regional scale exponentially increases the quality and viability of producers' decision-making.
Another agricultural problem, identified in Application Technology, is the incorrect execution of what was specified by manufacturers, consultants and agronomists. With this in mind, SprayX, a startup that focuses on guaranteeing the processes of one of the most critical activities in agriculture: the application of agricultural pesticides, teaches and guides the agricultural technician in the field, step by step, assisting in the correct execution of technical recommendations, making the application of pesticides more efficiently and safely. It does this through a set of interconnected hardware, software and exclusive equipment that automatically collects information and interacts with the technician in a fun and productive way.
Farm management has also always been an issue in the field, even if producers were not fully aware of it. For example, if the timing of the application for a pest is wrong, the error may have been due to lack or failures in monitoring, delay in product delivery or weather conditions. But all these setbacks can be resolved by efficient management: monitoring must be structured and information stored in a safe and easily interpreted location, product stock must be properly controlled to ensure there are no shortages or surpluses of products and a flexible schedule must include setbacks climatic conditions without compromising management. In other words, a simple error involves a multitude of information, which passes through all processes of agricultural production and rural business. Therefore, Aegro was developed to enable efficient and effective management on farms, assisting producers in their decisions and providing an overview that was previously impossible to visualize. The startup seeks to solve the problem of not knowing exactly how much is earned, how much was actually spent, what are the bottlenecks in agricultural production and business finances, the problem of inventory and machinery control, among many others. In short, what AgroSmart helps to clarify is the producer's decision-making and his happiness in the business.
Another of these solutions concerns the rural producer's need to acquire agricultural inputs for each production cycle. And why not do this through an online purchase? Many people are already accustomed to – and even prefer – purchasing various products online (internet), since there is no need to travel to a physical store, which takes time, in addition to running the risk of not finding the product. who want or even receive terrible service. This sales model has grown a lot in recent years with the advancement of digital tools, which has provided greater convenience, practicality and choice for the consumer. This is how AgriHome was created, a startup created with the aim of using digital tools in order to simplify and speed up the acquisition of agricultural inputs with the implementation of a new marketing model that is in accordance with current agrochemical legislation.
AgriHome is a pioneer in offering an online platform that brings together a network of consultants who are agronomists or agricultural technicians and who have the autonomy, flexibility and security to make their recommendations in accordance with their technical responsibilities in order to satisfy the needs of rural producers. . Each consultant registered on the AgriHome platform can recommend an agricultural input according to the rural producer's needs. From this point on, the consultant becomes responsible for preparing the agronomic recipe with which the producer can purchase the product via the platform. And for each technical recommendation that is converted into a sale, the professional receives remuneration. Currently, these startups mentioned are in different stages of commercialization. Agrosmart monitors more than 210 thousand hectares in Brazil in crops such as soybeans, corn, coffee, sugarcane, fruits and others. Among its clients are companies such as Café Orfeu, Graças, Junqueira Rodas and Raízen. Aegro has more than 600 customers across the country, especially in grain production, and helping to manage more than one million hectares. On the other hand, SprayX and DigiFarmz, which, of the aforementioned, are the most recent on the market, are already in a traction stage and are selling their first units/crops and quickly expanding a solid customer base. DigiFarmz, in fact, already has demand for Latin America (Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia) and is in the final phase of compiling data to soon expand to these areas. Tarvos, on the other hand, is in the final phase of pilot tests with cotton producers in the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás in monitoring the boll weevil and in the state of São Paulo, with plants testing the solution in monitoring the boll weevil. -cane. The official launch of the solution for cotton producers took place at Agrishow 2019 and commercial-scale offerings throughout Brazil are expected to begin in September this year. AgriHome, in turn, is driving sales, increasing the base of consultants and distributors.
DigiFarmz, SprayX and AgriHome are being accelerated by ACE Startups
Agro is a very dynamic sector and changes are occurring at an increasingly accelerated rate. Rural producers are connected and attentive to new technologies. This scenario of changes and transformations, where information will be more accessible and will play a prominent role, is allowing more accurate decision-making at all times of agricultural production. This allows for less waste of inputs, time and energy and more assertive, efficient and sustainable agriculture. And it is in the face of so much data, new products and solutions that emerge daily based on technology, that one realizes how fundamental it is to view technological innovations no longer as a trend, but as a reality. After all, production and productivity gains can be even better with the use of emerging technologies that can be incorporated from small to large properties.
DigiFarmz Smart Agriculture
Agrosmart Smart Cultivation
Tarvos
SprayX
agro
AgriHome
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By Roberto Sant'Anna, lawyer at Mackenzie University. Postgraduate degree in Law and Agribusiness from Fundação Getúlio Vargas and specialization in Intellectual Property and Innovation
