I recently read an article titled, “How Big Data Will Feed the Global Population- However Big it Gets.” I read the title, an immediately it sparked thoughts of horror. For one thing, it is terrifying to think about what happens if/when the world’s population gets too large for us to handle. Also…what does this mean? How can Big Data be related to our food?
Thus far the Earth has been giving and giving and giving to humans, but surely this cannot last forever. Some argue that we have experienced shortages, and agriculture has not always been as reliable and giving as we would hope (think about North Korea, and China’s great leap forward). But these occurrences, first and foremost were overcome. Additionally, I would argue that they were a result of the shortcomings of man, not the shortcomings of the Earth. If man acts optimally, then the agriculture does too.
More recently, with the help of technology, our ability to cultivate food has grown through the roof. But as our population keeps growing and growing, our ability to cultivate more and more must grow too.
Previously, I was skeptical about this connection, and didn’t understand how big data could really help us in the agricultural arena. For this reason, the author of the article received some negative feedback. People called her out for not being a “gardner.” This may be true, but I have seen that when it comes to big data, it is not industry specific. Here, at Cliintel, We always say, “Everyone is in the Big Data industry.” Now I see that this may be true…even in the agricultural space. You may be wondering “how?”
Well, lets think about what exactly big data does for us. In marketing, it allows us to gather information about individuals, that leads to insights as to what we can do to attract them as customers. It allows us to customize the experience for each person. We can use data to customize virtually anything to a particular person, group, organization or community. We can customize the perfect supply chain management system to a particular company. We do so by taking all aspects of the supply chain into consideration. For example, we can answer the following questions, using data mining and data analysis: who are the best suppliers for our organization? What products do we need from them, and how many at any given time? How often should we take inventory? How much do we need in stock in December? How much do we need in April?
Essentially, big data works the same way in agriculture; It allows us to customize.
In the agricultural world, this is called precision agriculture. You may be wondering, “what is precision agriculture?” It is essentially a mix between big data and robotics that allows for farmers to customize the cultivation of every square foot of their land.
But instead of asking questions about suppliers and inventory, they ask questions about land. Farmers can gather data about soil, air quality, crop maturity, labor costs and equipment costs. Using predictive analytics, and the insight gained from their data, farmers can make better, smarter decisions, that reduce inefficiencies. They waste fewer pesticides, use less water, less energy and ensure greater worker productivity.
Wondering specifically what they can find out? They can see what crops work best in what fields, during what time of year. They can even determine what fertilizers work best for what crops and how much they should use. Using sensors in the soil, that report their readings via GPS, crops can “tell” farmers exactly how much fertilizer they need. They can even tell us their nitrogen and water requirements.
This is all pretty great, and greatly reduces inefficiencies. However, as of now, only about 20% of farms are using precision agriculture technology. In the United States at least. But about 60% of farms in the UK are…looks like we have some catching up to do.
By reducing these inefficiencies, we can get the most out of all the land that we have available. But, the amount of available land will not increase; the Earth will not get bigger. But even then, won’t there come a time when even this wont be enough?
To see the article discussed in this post, click here.
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