Technological advances in agriculture has opened avenues for students


Technological advances in agriculture has opened avenues for students

Technological advances in agriculture has opened avenues for students to transform a long-neglected field.

With the global food demand set to surge almost two-fold by 2050 (according to UN estimates), it is imperative to increase agricultural productivity and enhance the quality of produce to feed the growing population. To meet this challenge, policy makers and stakeholders have been looking for a modern ecosystem that can amalgamate automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data seamlessly with agriculture to reap better results. Consequently, agritech has emerged as the driving force for career opportunities in this sector.

Agritech — or the use of technology in agriculture, aquaculture, or horticulture — is a necessary tool to modernise agriculture and increase yields, while making it more cost-effective. It may also help in resolving the structural problems such as lack of resources, the presence of numerous middlemen, and limited access to the marketplace. Several start-ups have leveraged digital platforms to create new opportunities and functionalities in the sector.

Digitisation

Therefore, this is also the right time to explore career options. Apart from supply chain, farm management, quality management, and financial services, agritech has opened avenues such as precision agriculture, traceability, farm mechanisation/automation, market linkages, agri-advisory, agro-tourism and biotech. Careers range from farm managers, supply-chain specialists and finance experts to digital analysts and software developers.

Agricultural professionals such as engineers, researchers, and agronomists will increasingly need core competency in technical functions. With growing industrialisation, even traditional agricutlure-based professions like farm management are seeing technology-based disruptions. There is, consequently, a high demand for competencies such as digital transformation, data analytics, data sciences, and software development.

Once seen as a strictly rural profession, agriculture is now poised for a more broad-based growth, with technology and industrialisation coming together to realise its full potential. Consequently, it is the right time to engage and invest in this booming sector. For students, there are exciting opportunities and a chance to transform a long-neglected field.

For data analytics, machine learning, AI and robotics (technologists) to be implemented in the agriculture sector, either agriculturists should learn these technologies themselves or, should work as a team (agriculturists and technologists) towards the growth of the sector (necessity is the mother of innovation).

The writer is Dean – School of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, NMIMS


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