From the hoe to GPS: the countryside cultivates technology

Precision agriculture, digitalization, artificial intelligence, drones, sensors to detect pests or know the needs of plants, geolocation systems in livestock farms and crops... are instruments that until a few years ago were barely known and used in agricultural activity. Today, although it may not seem like it at times, they are terms with which the sector has already become familiar, especially the new generations, with the aim of gaining efficiency and profitability, saving and achieving sustainability.

According to data from the Spanish Association for the Digitalization of Agriculture, Agri-Food, Livestock, Fishing and Rural Areas, AgroTech, Spain is in the leading positions in the development of this type of companies with more than 750, alone surpassed by the United States and India, with almost fifty different technological application firms. With these figures, Spain leads the sector in Europe, tripling the number of companies from member states such as the Netherlands, Germany or France. A fact that speaks of the youth of the sector: 60% of these companies were created less than five years ago and 40% are between five and ten years old.

For the president of the association, Ivan Lütolf, given its recent constitution, its turnover volumes are not very important, although the most notable thing is that they are growing year after year, even in the worst moments of the pandemic, due to the interest of many. entrepreneurs for hiring their services. One in eight companies increased their turnover in the last year and 84% of them planned to increase their workforce; It is one of the activities that is increasing its employment levels the most, according to their data. Today, 60% of these firms invoice less than 250,000 euros. “Our agricultural and food sectors face numerous challenges, such as being more productive due to the need to be more sustainable from an environmental point of view, and in a context of very high increases in input prices, social costs, etc., and the practical impossibility of setting sales prices,” he points out. Lütolf believes that the challenge can only be met if progress is made in digital transformation processes that are economically viable and profitable and, at the same time, aligned with environmental and social demands.

In Mazuela, Burgos, in the deepest Castilla, half a century ago Mr. Zacarías spread the seed and fertilizer, with a bag, “cebadera”, on his shoulder. A few decades later, his son Fidenciano did it with the fertilizer spreader attached to the tractor, but without knowing exactly where he placed the product. Today, the son, Eduardo, has a GPS built into the tractor . “This allows me greater rationalization when planting or fertilizing, with a saving of about 100 kilos per hectare. I do the same for the use of phytosanitary products,” he says. The farmer regrets, however, that the advance represented by new technologies has not been imposed in the field, since it would mean having exact information about each land, with its corresponding analyzes to treat each one according to its demands , and significant savings as well as higher returns.

The development of agrotech companies extends throughout Spain, although they are concentrated in four autonomous communities: Andalusia, with 21%; Catalonia, which represents 16%; Madrid, 15%, and Valencia, 11%.

Among the multiple technologies applied by this type of company are the use of sensors at different points of a farm that allow farmers to monitor their crops, obtaining data on their behavior, trends, water use, water status of the plants, average humidity, temperature, etc. Or the use of geolocators, GPS, with the aim of achieving greater streamlining and optimization of daily agricultural tasks, from fertilization to sowing, through harvesting, thus achieving permanent monitoring of the evolution of agricultural operations and data. on the situation of extensive livestock herds. With artificial intelligence, the farmer has the possibility of predicting the appearance of plant diseases and improving their cycle.

New technologies are expanding throughout the agricultural sector. In the vineyard, the president of Terras Gauda , José María Fonseca, has been one of the pioneering winemakers in its application in different projects, from the search for new varietals to the control of the vine. “Since 2021, we have participated in a European project on artificial intelligence, big data , drones and satellites to monitor the vineyard and, above all, to early detect possible diseases and water needs,” he reports.

In Castilla y León, the development of the pistachio surface has been accompanied by the Pistacyl Group with a research project aimed at sustainability through sensors and drones that allow us to know the needs of water resources based on production expectations.

With the data managed by Agrotech, depending on the use of each type of technology, achievements are possible such as savings of up to 70% in the use of water and 40% in the use of phytosanitary products, which is due add savings in time, fuel, use of machinery, in addition to avoiding possible sanctions linked to the commitments required in green matters by the community authorities.

The commitment to the digitalization of agriculture has a disparate impact depending on sectors and territories.

The initiative with the longest running time is the Datagri forum, led by the agricultural organization COAG together with Hispatec, the Agri-Food Cooperatives and the University of Córdoba. José Luis González, responsible for these programs at COAG, considers that Spain is at similar levels to neighboring European countries, although he recognizes that their implementation is very unequal between small and large farmers. “The great challenge is to achieve agriculture for the future, a sustainable activity in all its facets, as established by the guidelines of the CAP reform and the Green Deal,” he maintains. Asaja has taken a step by signing an agreement with a drone and services company, DSD, for its associates. For its part, UPA carries out advisory work on the digitalization of agricultural activity through the funds provided by the Administration.

Public plans and funds

The digitalization of agricultural activity and the use of new technologies to achieve a profitable and sustainable sector with the capacity to compete in all markets is one of the challenges promulgated by the Spanish Administration. But the funds are basically community funds, derived from the Next Generation program, and from the sector they have been classified as insufficient compared to those available for other activities, to which contributions from the State have been added.

This objective includes the funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, PRTR, within the framework of which a Plan to Promote the Sustainability and Competitiveness of Agriculture and Livestock is contemplated as component 3 to achieve a more efficient. It has resources of 1,050 million euros from the Next Generation (956 million are for agriculture and 95 for fishing).

Likewise, within the framework of the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation, PERTE , of the agri-food sector, another 1,000 million of community funds were allocated to advance digitalization and research, to which another 800 million from the Administration were added. Spanish.