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Precision farming:
The future of agriculture
A
precision farming congress which has been presented by
the North-West University’s Potchefstroom campus for
the past few years, took place on 22 April 2016. The aim
of this congress was to bring together producers, agri-
cultural companies, agricultural service providers and academics,
to discuss the role of precision farming.
During the congress experts focused on what precision farming
entails, as well as products and services that are available in the
market. The future of precision farming was also discussed under
the congress’ theme, ‘The role of precision farming towards 2020
– ensuring food security in South Africa.’
The future of food security
The keynote speaker was Mr Jannie de Villiers (CEO: Grain SA)
who focussed on the future of food security. He mentioned that
food security is the result of sustainable grain production and that
the availability of food should be the responsibility of the market,
with prices driving the production and consumption.
Grain SA strives towards a grain sector where maize can be pro-
duced profitably at export parity prices. In an effort to sustain
profitable production, producers need to use the latest technology
available – from seed to chemicals and mechanisation to training.
‘Our agricultural practices have to adapt to the changes and new
measures becoming more and more important,’ De Villiers said.
According to him finance for subsistence farmers working state-
owned and communal land also forms an integral part of the future
of food. The competition for land between the agricultural and min-
ing sectors further impacts negatively on food security.
For South Africa the biggest challenge remains the affordability of
food. The maintenance of infrastructure is also critical for imports,
exports and reaching every corner of rural areas with food.
The digital future of agriculture
Mr Andrew Bennett (technology development manager: Asia/
Africa, Monsanto) looked into the development of agriculture since
the 1960s from the time of the first green revolution up to the
2000s when advanced information technologies made their appear-
ance. In agriculture the adoption of innovative breeding and seed
technologies has been seen, as well as advanced mechanical plant-
ing processes like Auto Steer and precision planting.
Farming digitally should mean quick answers to questions about
optimal planting densities, variable planting and water and nutrient
deficiencies. The adoption of digital tools will give a much better
understanding and accuracy of predictions versus the current way
of fragmented data and data sources.
An international perspective
One of the international experts at the congress was Mr Hans
Stiekema (regional manager: Ag Leader, Europe, Middle East and
Africa) who mentioned that with the growing population, world-
wide food production will have to increase. In Holland all produc-
ers use precision farming and across Europe there is a high level of
precision farming practices to be seen.
RELEVANT
LOUISE KUNZ,
SA Graan/Grain
contributor
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