Agricultural Technologies: Pros and Hurdles “Nations that do not sow, perish”

By Sabreen Ajroudi, Department  of Research and Strategic Studies of International Relations 10-05-2024

Agricultural technologies can be defined as all technological techniques used in agricultural activities to improve proضduction. Agricultural technolog are important as they have a positive impact on the quality and quantity of agricultural crops by employing information technology, communication technology, and data systems to make farmers more informed about all the information regarding their fields. This aims to establish sustainable social and economic development, considering that agriculture is one of the most important pillars of development within societies.

What are the most important agricultural technology techniques?

Why is it considered an important aspect of economic growth?

And what are the challenges facing agricultural technology?

Advanced Agricultural Technology Techniques

A variety of agricultural technology techniques include:

Soil and Water Sensors

These sensors determine soil moisture levels and nitrogen levels, allowing farmers to determine appropriate watering and fertilization times. Soil and water sensor technology is considered cost-effective, even small farmers can afford and use it in their agricultural activities.

Weather Tracking Stations

Among the most important factors affecting agriculture and the agricultural sector in general are climate factors and weather conditions. This has led to the recognition of the necessity for farmers to constantly know the weather conditions and climate fluctuations that may occur in the area of agricultural activity. Agricultural technology takes this into account by providing a range of specialized websites detailing all weather conditions, including temperature and rainfall forecasts. This allows farmers to anticipate any emergency situation that may arise from weather conditions and take necessary measures to avoid all damages.

Satellite Imaging

By using satellite imaging technology, farmers can remotely monitor all crops from the control room of the agricultural project with clarity and without the need to travel across the entire land, thus saving them effort.

Vertical Farming

Vertical farming technology relies on providing the largest possible area of arable land, where farming is done vertically without the need for large expanses of land. This allows for the utilization of small spaces within cities and contributes to increasing the quantity of agricultural products.

Robots

Robots are generally used to compensate for the shortage of labor in the agricultural field. There are many countries that are working extensively on developing such robots to perform various agricultural activities such as harvesting, pesticide spraying, and monitoring crops and soil.

Target Drones

These have been used extensively in recent years for land monitoring and pesticide spraying.

Genetic Modification

Some farmers modify plant genes to resist various factors that may damage them, which contributes to avoiding the decline in agricultural product yields.

Why should countries employ modern agricultural technologies?

The importance of agricultural technology is reflected in many aspects, as it contributes to increasing crop productivity and reducing the cost of agriculture, such as water, fertilizers, and pesticides.

Another important advantage ensured by agricultural technology is environmental preservation, as reducing the use of chemical pesticides in soil and groundwater improves the quality of crops. On the other hand, employing agricultural technology ensures the safety of workers in the agricultural sector.

Agricultural technology also ensures optimal monitoring of natural resources using modern robotic means, such as dedicating effective natural factors to increase the quality of natural products.

On the other hand, traditional agricultural mechanisms were extensively used for all plants (for example, using one type of fertilizers and pesticides for all crops), but with the use of agricultural technology, the focus shifts to each plant individually, thus improving the quality of agricultural crops.

Therefore, agricultural technology has proven its effectiveness for countries that use it in their agricultural activities by making farmers more capable of controlling and processing plant production more effectively and storing it safely. This contributes particularly to reducing the cost of agricultural production and ensuring its growth in ways that guarantee a “safe food system”.

Challenges due to the differences in economic, environmental, and social characteristics of countries

In an era dominated by globalization, the strategic exploitation of technological techniques is an effective factor and a crucial point in the positive change of agricultural systems by increasing their efficiency and resilience to the various challenges facing our world today, such as climate change, water scarcity, and the deterioration of labor in the agricultural sector. Therefore, considering how to positively exploit technological techniques today is necessary to ensure food systems that respond to all health standards and align with the various economic and social challenges of all countries, whether they are developing or advanced countries. This falls briefly under food security, as when safe and advanced agricultural systems are found, food security is achieved.

What cannot be overlooked in any way in the effort to spread the culture of agricultural technology is the inherent difference between the nature of countries in terms of their needs and their ability to innovate and employ these modern agricultural technologies. While globalization and its subsequent expansion impose some minor developments on the level of agricultural and food systems, there is no single technological solution that aligns with the nature of all countries and meets all their needs in all different contexts. Agricultural technology is not just a magic wand that solves all problems in the agricultural field.

Indeed, there are many factors and variables that must be deeply considered and studied before taking any step towards employing agricultural technology, with proactive studies taking into account all possible factors and the common benefits between countries and within these countries themselves.

For example, there are possibilities that agricultural technology may affect labor in various countries in different ways. In some countries, unemployment rates appear high and labor in the agricultural field is not as efficient. Consequently, the adaptation of agricultural technology is likely to improve agricultural systems against its undesirable effect on labor. While in other countries, the workforce appears to be more efficient and can be utilized in other areas within agricultural technology.

Therefore, employing agricultural systems stimulates employment in other fields such as logistical areas and directs towards production monitoring, which will increase its quantity. These are a set of functions that require high cognitive capabilities that are not available to workers in other countries.

Therefore, transitioning or developing agricultural systems requires important elements that must be available within countries, including the availability of a highly capable workforce that can succeed in using advanced agricultural technologies and have the ability to respond to high production quantities.

This important direction surrounding how agricultural technologies should be applied emphasizes the necessity of considering all the social, economic, environmental, and ethical effects that may result from the adoption of modern agricultural technologies.

It is worth mentioning that the deployment of technologies not only requires consideration of how they are adopted or their impacts but also entails research and development in them.

Regarding the list of countries that have increased their investments in agricultural research and development, China, India, and Brazil top this list, where a significant increase in the volume of their investments in agricultural technologies was observed between 1981 and 2016. However, middle-income or developing countries still have limited investments in this field compared to investments in other areas such as infrastructure.

Economic analysts attribute this to the economic capabilities of these countries, which cannot invest in areas that may not have any short-term impact on reality and cannot finance studies and research that have tangible effects, unlike what exists for infrastructure investments. Therefore, you may find that the expenditure of these countries on research and development in the agricultural sector is modest compared to private spending.

Private spending on research and development in the agricultural sector witnessed a qualitative leap between 1990 and 2014 worldwide, more than tripling. High-income companies in developed countries spend 88% of private agricultural expenditure worldwide on research and development.

Capital investments in the agricultural food technology sector reached $29.6 billion in 2022, although this represents a decrease of 44% compared to 2021, due to the numerous challenges facing the private sector in research and development.