More connectivity, better management, greater production

One of the possible assessments to be made after the 25th edition of Agrishow, in Ribeirão Preto, SP, the main technology fair focused on agribusiness, which ended at the beginning of May this year, is that it was an event where the word Connectivity was a big part of the conversations and stands. Almost every company had some product, equipment, application that was intended to connect one machine with another or with the office computer or even smartphones. And it is impressive to see the rapid growth in the number of startups or long-established companies offering their services, always with the premise of connection via Bluetooth, internet, satellite or some other similar solution. And this is extraordinary, fantastic because much of this technology that is being developed is already incorporated or about to be implemented in agricultural machinery and equipment. In other words, they, the machines, are already in the digital world and there is no going back. And it is possible to say that there is almost no difference between products sold in Brazil and those in the USA or Europe. And it's hard to contain this thought... what a fantastic world this is!

But...and one often appears, but in life, not everything is a bed of roses. And, even when it is, we are quickly reminded that they have thorns. Connectivity requires an agile mobile phone network, internet broadband, preferably fiber optics, so that the transmitted data circulates quickly to all the people who need it. And, it is at this moment that, in the countryside, the band plays differently than it does in the city.

I'll explain. Brazil is a country of contrasts. And somewhat strange rules, to say the least. Believe. The population that lives in the city and that with a click of a finger on their cell phone touch screen accesses thousands of information, cannot imagine that this facility has not reached the countryside. Hundreds of rural properties are often only able to use cell phones in the 2G band, the oldest and one of the first to be commercialized in the country. And they only accomplish this feat because they climb a hill, go to an open field or some other adventure of the genre. And we are already at the end of the second decade of the 21st century.

See, if we are to think that the product that comes out of the industry called field/farm, is the food of millions of people who live in cities, wouldn't it be exactly the opposite or at least the same? Agribusiness represents around 40% of the total Brazilian GDP, which in 2018 was R$1,716 trillion. Let's consider that 15% is produced by those who live in rural areas, far from urban centers. Wouldn't it be fair if investments in telephone infrastructure, mainly for access to the data network (internet), were at least equal to those in cities? After all, everyone in the countryside also wants to connect quickly to improve communication between themselves and be able to conduct business, as much as companies in the city, right? And for the field to produce better and at the same levels of competition as its competitors, it is necessary to have access to the internet. And this doesn't happen. And that's where the weird part of the rules comes in. Telephony privatization legislation in Brazil allowed operators to install their networks in large urban centers, where there is greater demand for their services, but did not oblige them to serve rural areas in the same way. So, and many of you must have already experienced this, you left a few kilometers from the urban area, you are in limbo, outside the world!

Connected machines

But why talk about the problem of telephony in the countryside? Because a large part of Brazilian agricultural machinery is already in the digital world. More and more, they incorporate on-board computers, telemetry systems, autopilot, applications, satellite sensors that read the crop situation in real time, artificial intelligence platforms and a multitude of technologies that depend heavily on access to the telephone and data transmission network, to send information from the field to the office and vice versa. And, with this, speed up decision-making about the activities planned for that shift or day. After all, a rural property is a business, a food factory, and as such, it needs agility in its communications so that the actions to be taken are the most correct and, consequently, the final product is available to sell and make a profit. . Isn't that the case with companies in cities?

And how can we offer agricultural machines with all these tools if the producer cannot use them properly? Currently the systems are programmed so that, when passing through an area that has a signal, the computer connects and transmits all the data that has been stored up to that moment, or only at the end of the journey, when the machine returns to the farm headquarters downloads data via Wi-Fi signal directly to the manager's computer. Any course correction becomes more difficult to make in real time. And you will only have greater agility, greater production, if there is access to an internet connection, without this, it is difficult.

Because of this situation, some companies, on their own initiative, launched connection programs for the field. But in reality, I believe it is time for entities representing agribusiness, supported by its more than R$ 1,7 trillion in GDP, to put pressure on the Federal Government in search of a solution and call the telephone operators installed in Brazil to the table. and others who want to settle or compete, for a meeting with the specific purpose of bringing a solution to this node. After all, agribusiness is also a strong consumer of telephone services and, if this knot is not undone, our agriculture, considered one of the most modern in tropical climates, will stop in time, because there will be no way to communicate properly. And, I believe that, without connection, there is no way to increase production. And without sufficient and efficient production, there is no food to meet population growth. That simple!

By André Rorato, Vice President of LS Mtron Brasil - LSMB