15 agricultural technologies of the future

Policy Horizons Canada, in collaboration with analyst Michell Zappa of Envisioning, has published a report entitled "New technologies and accompanying information charts" , which lists new technologies in the field. Energy, agriculture, materials and nano, health, communication and digitization.

Agricultural technologies are divided into four main groups: sensors, food, automation and technology. In particular, sensor technology allows farmers to diagnose and monitor crops in real time, supporting livestock and agricultural machinery. Food technology will bring about genetic achievements as well as the ability to produce meat from the lab. Automatic technology in agriculture will be implemented by large-sized robots or micro-robots to monitor the planting process. Technical technology helps agriculture scale up to new vehicles, new locations and new areas of the economy.

I - Sensor

1. Sensors of soil and air

Sensors are the basic support tool for agricultural automation. These sensors enable farmers to monitor crops in real time, monitor water / humidity, air and factors affecting crop productivity.

The prediction by 2015 will become popular.

2. Agricultural telecommunications

This technology makes it possible for agricultural machines to inform users of upcoming problems. Communication between machines can create a foundation for the "agricultural machine group" farming style.

It is expected to become popular in 2016.

3. Biometric breeding

Farmers use GPS (global positioning system), RFID (radio frequency identification) and biometric technology to automatically identify and transmit important information about livestock. in real time.

Expected to be popular in 2020.

4. Crop sensor

High-resolution crop seasonal sensors will provide information for agricultural equipment to adjust the amount of water and fertilizer to suit soil and crops. Optical sensors or drone devices will be able to identify the healthy state of the plant. For example, they will use infrared sensors to measure the greenness throughout the field.

It is expected to be popular in 2019.

5. Sensor of agricultural infrastructure status

These sensors are capable of measuring shocks or physical conditions of houses, bridges, production facilities, farms and other infrastructure. Working in a smart network, these sensors will transmit information to the specialized or robot.

It is expected to be popular in 2027.

II - Food

6. Genetic food

In the future, people will create new genetically modified foods from livestock and plants. These foods are a combination of biotechnology and physiology. It is the result of the development of genetic modification technology to a higher level, becoming a gene synthesis food.

It is expected to be popular in 2022.

7. Food in vitro

This is a meat of animal origin but made from test tubes. Unlike ordinary meat which is derived from a complete growth process of animals, test tube meat only grows from one part of that growth stage. There are already a few test-tube meat projects underway and have gained some success. However, they are not yet produced at the consumer level.

Prediction will become popular in 2024.

III - Automation

8. Controlling soil preparation and planting

Based on the existing geolocation technologies, future land preparation and cultivation can save seeds, minerals, fertilizers and herbicides thanks to automatic adjustment of input norms. Farmers use computers to calculate the shape of the field where they will plant. Thanks to an understanding of the productivity of crops in different areas of the field, agricultural machines can apply quantitatively to seeds, fertilizers, and herbicides suitable for each area in the field. .

Expected to become popular in 2016.

9. Causing quick and selective breeding

The next generation breeding technology will be based on algorithms for quantitative determination and the necessary improvements applied to livestock and crop breeding.

Forecast will become popular in 2017.

10. Agricultural robots

Agricultural robots, there is another term "agbot", which will participate in agricultural automation processes, such as harvesting, transporting fruit, soil preparation, weeding, planting, irrigation. .

It is expected to become popular in 2021.

11. Precision agriculture

The cultivation management will be based on the observation of changes in the field. With the help of satellite images and advanced sensors, farmers can optimize input materials. The knowledge of crops, geolocated weather data and accurate sensors will help farmers make accurate decisions and improve cultivation techniques.

Expected to become popular in 2024.

12. Agricultural machine group

Assume that in the future farming will have a combination of dozens, even hundreds of robots, along with thousands of micro sensors. This set of agricultural machines will monitor, monitor, forecast, cultivate and harvest crops without human intervention. Currently, people have experimented on a small scale.

It is expected that by 2026 it will become popular.

IV - Technique

13. The ecosystem is closed

This is an "autonomous" ecosystem, not affected by factors outside the system. Theoretically, a closed system like this could convert waste products to oxygen, food and water to provide plant growth within the system. People have experimented with closed systems on a small scale, because the current technology does not allow for larger scale deployments.

It is expected that by 2021 it will be widely deployed.

14. Synthetic biology

Synthetic biology is only in its infancy but promises to bring about a new revolution in the field of biology, because of its great application potential in society. Synthetic biology is an extension of genetic engineering. The purpose of synthetic biology is to alter and complete genes by synthesizing methods to create new organisms with the desired biological properties.

In agriculture, it will help to create animals and plants with biological characteristics at will. Integrated biology also applies in the field of pharmaceutical manufacturing, energy production, food supply, maintenance and improvement of human health, waste treatment and environmental protection.

Forecast will become popular in 2024.

15. Vertical cultivation

This is a form of space-saving cultivation, applied in cities. This type can produce plants from urban skyscrapers. Use irrigation techniques similar to those in greenhouses. Plants are enhanced with natural light through maintenance and energy-saving measures.

Vertical cultivation methods bring a lot of benefits, such as being able to produce year round, less affected by the weather, meet the food needs of the city, reduce transportation costs.

It is expected to become popular in 2027.