Food industry is big in India, which employs more than 50% of its total workforce in agriculture and its allied industries, contributing to about 20% of India’s GDP. Such a huge industry has its downside; India generates around 350 million tonnes of agricultural waste every year along with a range of up to 35% of losses from both pre- and post-harvest.
To manage this colossal industry, the use of technology along with farm management strategies have been employed.
Introduction - Agriculture and Farm Management
Manufacturing and food production are at record highs. The global agricultural market had a value of $11.287 billion in 2021 and is projected to increase by 18.814.21 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 10.7%. The US and China are followed by India, which is ranked second in terms of volume, second in global farm exports, and first in net cropped area. India exports agricultural products and processed food to more than 120 other nations. From March to June 2020, India exported 3.50 billion US dollars’ worth of agricultural products.
The industry demands optimization and efficiency, but not at the expense of product quality. A farm manager must comprehend, put into practice, and act in order to determine the optimal way in which a specific farm should run. This involves making decisions about production, resource allocation, sustainability, and a wide range of other important issues. Hence, the need for farm management comes into the picture.
What is Farm Management?
Farm management is a management technique for planning and carrying out agricultural decisions, such as those addressing livestock, crops, aquaculture, agroforestry, etc., in order to maximize output and profitability. It utilizes the available resources for profitable, sustainable, and productive farming by allocating resources, developing strategies, and planning operations.
J.N. Efferson defines it as “as the science that deals with organization and operation of the farm in the context of efficiency and continuous profits”.
A farm manager oversees all farming activities involving the management of produce and livestock, in addition to how, what, when, and how much to produce.
● They must choose what
to produce, how to produce it, when to produce it, and where to produce it
while responding to changing technological and economic situations and using
their technical expertise to meet deadlines.
● They get involved in
the acquisition of produce inputs, the procurement of machinery, storage,
marketing, and the location of sales through adaptation and forecasting.
● They keep tabs on
actions associated with running a firm, such as acquiring capital, allocating
financial resources, keeping tax records, submitting taxes, and complying with
regulations.
Why do farmers need farm management?
While the demand for food is increasing at a rapid pace, the industry is gearing up for a business model approach where farmers and organizations are counting to achieve the best optimal outcome from the resources available. Thus, farm management plays a key role in providing farmers with such tools to counter the present and future needs.
● Knowledge-based approach: A knowledge-based approach is needed for farm planning and operations, where specifics like the resources employed, crop development, methods used, when to use them, and how are decided upon using historical and real-time data.
● Promotes diversity: Integrity, diversity and safety are upheld through soil management, pollution control, energy efficiency, crop protection, water management, nature conservation, and livestock management. This enables farmers to increase their production and reach.
● Evaluates data: Farm management encourages the collection of data at every level of farm activity. This gives farmers access to a database of information on everything from seeds and crops to labour, expenditures, and losses. Makes this a tool for daily operations and for acting quickly in moments of crisis.
● Cost efficient: through meticulous use of resources and decreased use inputs like water, fertilizers and labour along with efficient farm operation, farm management helps reduce cost while promoting sustainability.
● Better decisions: Good farm management equips decision-makers
with a variety of tools, data, and involvement.
How technology helps in farm management
The global agriculture market place is valued around 11,287.56 billion dollars and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.1% annually. An industry of this size cannot be effectively managed manually. Leading to the adoption of technology in farm management procedures, the industry has come a long way, from sophisticated hardware that records and transfers data in real-time to complex agriculture software that helps determine farm operations and influences decisions.
Farmers that use technology to address problems will be able to take farming operations to a new level through data and automation both before and after harvest. At a phase where time is money, farmers get the best tool through technology to capture, share and act according to changes in the environment and the market.
Let’s look at a few software’s that help farmers in farm management.
Data sciences
A farmer must make countless judgments based on the constantly changing aspects of agriculture, such as the weather, diseases, contingencies, market demand, natural disasters, etc. In order to adapt to any unforeseen occurrences, farmers need accurate data and effective forecasting skills. We might as well refer to it as the data business since without it, farmers lack access to customized and personal data that could have an impact on output and profitability.
Artificial intelligence
It is said to be “the next best thing in agriculture”, artificial intelligence helps structure farming operations by drawing inferences through collecting large amounts of data and provide decision-makers with insights about crop and its inputs. From seed selection through sowing methods, water usage, required watering amounts and intervals, fertiliser application, and other factors are all determined.
A farming app
Today there are numerous organization providing farmers and organization with a niche software specially designed for farming and their supply chain activities. As the modern saying goes “everything at the tip of your finger”; the farm ecosystem is liked through various hardware’s like GPS technology, satellite image sensors, robots, temperature and moisture sensors, automated sprinklers, drones, and many more which record and transfer data to the mobile application in the hand of the farmer. A farmer can even choose to act through the mobile application such as to switch on the sprinklers, fertilizers, etc.
Blockchain
Blockchain starts with digitization, which ensures processing data is recorded and converted into an electronic format that can be shared and analyzed. Throughout the farming operation, information is captured and tracked relating to seed, crop, climate, land, plant journey, inputs, resource usage, harvest, and post-harvest events.
Crop and livestock data are gathered using a variety of methods, including geo-mapping, machine learning, analytical tools, and computer imaging sensors. The farmers use the information acquired to increase productivity and sustainability. It is possible to establish the appropriate level of resource use for a specific crop on a specific soil and at a specific period. Blockchain has aided in the analysis of processing data and the development of a specific formula that is promoting a better harvest and higher productivity.
Conclusion
It is evident that the agriculture industry has to rely on technology to cope up with the rising demands and match efficiency. This is a gradual shift from the traditional methods of farming, and farmer and decision-makers have to be smart in choosing from a large pool of agricultural technologies, this might be based on the type of land, crop type, methods used, ultimate goal, etc. The principles of farm management have adopted the use of technology with still the same goal in mind i.e. to increase productivity in all aspects of farming while keeping sustainability intact.
Summary
The agriculture business has developed over the years to the point that the fundamentals of agriculture are still practised, but with the aid of cutting-edge software and high-tech equipment. As agriculture has progressed, adopting farming management when necessary, so too must it embrace the addition of software and electronics in order to meet consumer demand. Let’s look at what the future holds in agriculture.
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