Approximately 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions on our world originate from agricultural production. Plant scientists are working on different solutions to slow the effects of greenhouse gases on climate change and reduce their impact on food production.
Although these studies are still in their infancy, they have the potential to make a big difference in the fight against climate change with the right financing and support.
"Big data" refers to extremely large datasets that can be analyzed to reveal trends and patterns. When it comes to big data in agriculture, that means everything from governments to field images from satellite and drones, or data from sensors embedded in a farmer's tractor.
The data collected covers every aspect of production, from seed, soil or weather conditions during the growing season. Analyzes obtained from information collected automatically and easily from digital platforms help farmers make the right decisions in every season and at every step. This results in larger harvests, increased productivity, sustainability and increased profitability.
Using this data, farmers can also be much clearer about how, when and where they use crop protection products on their farms. In addition to making the right interventions, they can also analyze the damage caused by the pests correctly, with early warning and accurate detections. Buddha; It enables farmers to optimize the amount of crop protection products required while reducing cost and environmental impact.
Big data is at the starting point in agriculture for now. The more data obtained, the more benefits will be gained by farmers around the world. Data enables new innovations and improved processes in the agricultural industry. Seed breeding companies use this data to develop the latest, best performing seed hybrids and varieties. Supply chains use this data to produce and supply the right products at the right time.
Cloud storage technology has been a game changer, making data more common, more accessible, and an almost infinite amount of information available. By reaching the fruits of the "big data" revolution with the mobile connections of the farmers to this technology, the needs of the society will continue to be met correctly.
Alongside innovative new initiatives, major agribusiness companies like Bayer are helping to continually improve the collection and analysis of large datasets by equipping farmers with the tools they need to farm more efficiently and sustainably.
Also known as biological plant protection products, these tools are based on substances derived from the natural world and are used to control crop insects or diseases and/or improve plant health.
Biological products can complement traditional synthetic products and help farmers increase their yields in an environmentally sustainable way. For example, biologics enable farmers to grow plants with healthy root systems, allowing plants to uptake nutrients more efficiently, reducing the runoff of nutrients into water sources or the release into the environment through emissions.
Biologics can also make processes more sustainable. For example, farmers may choose biologics to control diseases instead of copper, which can have a detrimental effect on soil health.
In the biological market, which is growing by 16% annually, it is becoming widespread in the newly established companies as well as the existing production companies.
Companies; they try to create a new product that they will launch on the market in different ways from the existing ones. But besides industry, trade and academic cooperation in the biological field; Combining expertise is crucial to enable the most effective and tailored solutions.
Companies like Bayer are advancing the biological and soil health approach to agriculture as part of the wider adoption of sustainable approaches. These companies have embraced the opportunity offered by biological products and are putting serious efforts into their further development.
The substance added to the active ingredient of a plant protection product to increase its efficacy and safety is called formulation. In other words, it is the "distribution system" of the product that helps the main ingredient reach its full potential.
It is known that new invasive species have come to many countries as a result of climate change. It is more important than ever for farmers to ensure food security by combating these new invasive species with environmentally sustainable plant protection products.
With innovations in formulations, the plant protection industry is advancing to be more efficient, safer and more environmentally friendly.
Formulations are incredibly useful for reducing the toxicity and volatility of a plant protection product and making them more environmentally sustainable. When choosing ingredients for formulations, plant scientists today focus on using biodegradable ingredients made from renewable resources.
Plant scientists are currently working on " microencapsulation ," a type of formulation that can activate an active ingredient in certain ways, for example by exposing it to heat or sunlight. With this formulation, it provides flexibility in terms of when the active plant protection ingredient is released into the environment and when it is taken up by the plant. The work done creates excitement for the future of formulations.
Companies such as FMC Corporation are taking important strides in the development of formulations of pest control products, ensuring a sustainable and abundant food supply in the face of climate change.
Rhizobia inoculants are a type of soil bacteria that associate with crops by colonizing root hairs and forming root tubers on the host plant. Here they provide nitrogen to the plant through a process called nitrogen fixation, which helps the plant grow and grow healthy.
Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is commonly used to help plants grow, but its production requires high levels of energy and natural gas, which releases a number of greenhouse gases into the air and soil. Meanwhile, farm manure can break down and evaporate, causing greenhouse gases to be released. Both can cause runoff which can cause additional stress in the local ecosystem.
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Rhizobial inoculants can provide important "green manure" nitrogen for crops; reduces or eliminates the need for a synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Collectively this significantly reduces emissions associated with food production without reducing the quality and size of the yield.
Many commercially available inoculants have advanced significantly over the years with state-of-the-art formulations, low utilization rates, highly effective strains, and increasingly consistent and higher quality products. They are on their way to increasing food production using new innovation, safe and sustainable solutions.
For many years, inoculators have been the domain of small and medium businesses with a natural agility and niche focus. Inoculators are now more common, thanks to their improved and more consistent performance. BASF and many similar international companies now allocate significant resources to this issue in order to develop more effective and efficient products. Industry, universities, governments, NGOs and research labs all continue to innovate in this area, as knowledge is pushed to the limit for advanced solutions.
Diagnostic apps are mobile apps that can be used with a smartphone or tablet. It is a promising field of mobile technology in agriculture that can help farmers diagnose problems with their crops, retrieve and record data in the field, document each stage during production, and foster communication around the farmer's trusted network.
It is estimated that pests reduce the global yield of agricultural production by 20-40% per year. With climatic change, more pests are likely to emerge as growing conditions become less predictable. This being the case, consumers are asking farmers to minimize the use of pesticides. Digital technologies such as diagnostic apps offer many potentials to help farmers address these critical issues.
Insights from diagnostic applications allow growers to farm more sustainably by conserving important natural resources such as water, soil and biodiversity, which provides a significant advantage in tackling climate change.
We are living through a unique period in the history of agriculture with rapidly developing digital technologies. In the future, farmers will have easy-to-use diagnostic applications with data collected directly from the field, using the latest technologies to make data-driven decisions. Thanks to these practices, better and positive results will be obtained from farmer enterprises and the natural environment.
Companies like Syngenta transform the data they obtain into powerful and meaningful information in the hands of their customers. When they combine their customers' deep knowledge of their land with company insights; It helps farmers run their operations more efficiently and cost-effectively, reduce their inputs, and increase their profits and yields.
Seed treatments are coatings applied prior to planting to protect seeds from pests and diseases and to help farmers plant early and increase yields. Today, more than 80% of soybeans and 99% of corn seeds are treated in the USA.
Seed treatments can be used to improve soil and environmental health, as well as helping farmers produce more efficient and healthier crops. Because the treatment with seed treatments is applied directly to the seed itself rather than to the entire field, farmers can reap the same benefits as other treatments using less crops. Ultimately, seed treatments improve performance for farmers and reduce the environmental impact of crop protection products.
Humanity realized very early that it should protect seeds from diseases and harmful insects, and for this reason, people have been treating seeds in various ways for thousands of years. These applications are still the guiding force today in seed processing and measuring seed performance using computers.
In the past 30 years, innovations in chemistry and technology have made seed treatments more and more popular. With the adoption of these practices by farmers more rapidly, there has been a great innovation in the field of seed processing.
Corteva; Large agricultural companies such as Agriscience are making significant strides in seed treatments to minimize the environmental changes of climate change that could harm plant health and quality.
Computer chemistry uses computers to process with pinpoint accuracy the hundreds of thousands of chemical structures that could make a plant protection product.
Computer chemistry can be used to make plant protection products safer, more effective and more environmentally friendly. This is because artificial intelligence helps run a series of simulations that give researchers an idea of how a pesticide might interact with target or non-target pests or affect the environment.
In addition to reducing the number of active ingredients and the toxicity of these ingredients in a plant protection product, computer chemistry can be used to ensure that no harm is done to beneficial species such as honey bees. With climate change increasing the unpredictability of conditions faced by growers, and potentially even the emergence of new pests, effective and sustainable products developed with the help of this technology become invaluable.
Modern computers are light years ahead of computer technology that existed ten years ago. Today's computers are faster, more accurate and easier to use. While the number of chemical structures mapped and simulated ten years ago was 40 million, this number has increased to 140 million today. With this progress, tomorrow's products will be much more effective and sustainable than they are today.
Companies like Sumitomo Chemical are always making rapid advances in computer chemistry. The direction of these advances is being driven by growers around the world who are increasingly demanding advanced crop protection products that can be delivered through computer chemistry.