Agritech 2024

Farmgate-to-fork The period following a harvest is a stressful one for farmers in emerging economies. The need for quick returns and the risks of crop loss lead many farmers to sell their produce at suboptimal prices. This is a systemic issue, and simply taking action to connect farmers to markets does not address it completely. The technologies now emerging are intended to address underlying issues such as a lack of quality standards, crop loss between farm and market, access to storage facilities and financing the use of such facilities. Use cases in the post-harvest supply chain are: –Traceability using blockchain: Traceability is gaining traction as a critical tool in ensuring that customers can follow the progress of their food from the farm to their plates. It is also proving useful for farmers by allowing them to gain a premium on their products based on cropping practices and product quality. Traceability platforms use blockchain-based shared ledgers to record a product’s journey at every step and provide three types of information: the state of a product/service; the transfer of ownership; and the transfer of funds.18 –IoT-enabled warehouses: Such warehouses have an edge over the traditional variety, as they provide real-time information on inventory and its location and condition, through sensors, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and GPS-enabled location tracking. IoT also allows efficient inventory management and analysis of a machine’s performance and its condition, which offers the opportunity for maintenance to be undertaken before any error occurs.19, 20 –Smart logistics solutions: Crop loss due to poor handling and storage, lag times in transport and waiting time at the market is common in the agriculture sector in emerging economies. AI-based tools can help the post- harvest supply chain become more efficient by using data collected at different ends of the chain and analysing it to offer information on route optimization, commodity information and reduction of market waiting times.21 Smart logistics can also include IoT-enabled cold- chain vehicles for transporting perishables. –Smart packaging: Food loss or reduced food quality while in transit from the farmer to the processor to the end customer is an area of concern. At a micro or household level it could lead to food-borne diseases, while at a macro level it leads to economic loss. Smart-packaging solutions track food’s quality and its environment through chemical or bio sensors, which monitor such parameters as temperature, pathogens, freshness and leaks.22 In tandem with this, RFID is also used to monitor package movement. 12 Agritech: Shaping Agriculture in Emerging Economies, Today and Tomorrow