There are some trends in agriculture that must be analysed to be prepared for the possible scenarios that may arise in the food value chain. Such analysis will allow the possibility to establish strategies to manage and deal with unforeseen events in the global economic context in order to be successful, without losing the efficiency and competitiveness of the current agricultural productive market and the one to come.
Based on the global agricultural market mutation, four trends in agriculture have become present. According to information published on the website McKinsey & Company, these trends, which we will mention below, may influence the course of the agricultural industry sooner than expected, so it is essential for the main players -from farmers to governments- to know about their existence to plan and anticipate future changes.
The main trends in agriculture:
- 1. A different diet.
Today, protein consumption levels are increasing in developing countries, matching developed nations. This represents a big change in the way people are perceiving food, basically motivated by the need to lower the obesity figures that triple every year in the world, especially in regions of Europe and North America, with variables in Asia and South America.
For example, in China, increasing urban developments have caused meat consumption to increase as well, with this nation being responsible for half of the increase in global meat consumption over the last decade.
It is estimated that, if these diet changes continue, the demand for alternative meat products or protein-rich foods will increase significantly, thus reducing sugar consumption, which has already happened in the United States where the population has reduced the consumption of corn syrup, which represents a considerable decrease in the production of this product for the agricultural industry, one that may affect the economy of exporting countries such as Australia, Brazil, India and Thailand.
- 2. We’ll find sources elsewhere
It is one of the trends in agriculture that stands out the most worldwide, as new regions such as sub-Saharan Africa or East Asia are likely to emerge, for example, contributing to the production of foods that don’t represent high energy costs and that shouldn’t have to overcome the climate-related challenges that are common today in traditional agricultural regions. Agricultural producers should be prepared because the overall picture of food-producing regions will change.
- 3. We will produce food and trade in a different way
This trend relates to the technological innovations in the world that are causing the levels of transparency and traceability to increase throughout the food value chain. This predicts that agricultural producers will have to meet more efficiency standards, there will be a significant decrease in waste and an increase in production yields, reducing information asymmetries.
- 4. We will negotiate based on different rules
This trend implies that the governments of several nations around the world could intervene by granting subsidies in order to transform market dynamics, resulting in long-term effects on global trade, such as changing the competitive position of countries worldwide. Special consideration should be given to this as these actions are likely to cause distortions in the groups that benefit from these food marketing and export activities.
There are four commodities (corn, soybeans, sugar and wheat), which serve as a monitor to analyse how the current market is developing, as they are the most marketed and consumed crops in the world and therefore, are closely linked to the increase in the world’s population. As a result, it’s necessary to follow-up their behaviour when they are being exposed to possible interruptions and changes in the market dynamics of these trends in agriculture.
What is happening with agriculture in India?
In India, digital innovation is transforming agriculture, which will certainly have a big impact on small-scale farmers who have usually been left out of these changes and from subsidies granted by the government, which are mostly used by medium-scale and large-scale farmers. So, there’s a need to know what challenges the sector must face in the following years.
While agriculture in India is somewhat contradictory since the country produces 11% of the world’s total agriculture, and at the same time registers the largest number of malnourished people in the world, the truth is that global digital innovation could help improve the situation for these small-scale farmers by helping increase their incomes and strengthen even more the competitiveness in the area.
According to information published on the website McKinsey & Company, some Indian agriculture leaders have devoted their time to study the agricultural reality of the region, offering ideas that illustrate the fundamental changes in the structure of the sector and raise questions about whether small-scale farmers could benefit from digital innovation just like large-scale farmers.
These ideas range from the income revolution in the agricultural industry in India to the digital innovations that support the digital transformation movement to improve the incomes of small-scale farmers, the challenges posed by these changes, and doubts regarding how these innovations should be monetized to have a real impact, as well as the need to connect the digital innovation with a change in the physical structure of agriculture.
Some of the innovations related to trends in agriculture have to do with how farmers integrate new technological tools in order to facilitate the work in the field, maintain the efficiency, improve results, and increase profits.
However, beyond developing new strategies to boost agriculture, many producers agree that one of the obstacles they have had to overcome is the lack of available channels to obtain information about the new agricultural trends and tools for the procurement of raw materials. For more information, we recommend you read our article on how do farmers find information and make purchases today.
Innovations in agricultural machinery is another trend in agriculture that plays a key role in the performance of the work in the field, which draws the attention of thousands of farmers each year.
In different parts of the world, fairs are held to promote the new alternatives designed to facilitate and optimize the processes of planting and harvesting crops.
Agricultural machinery manufacturers focus on finding viable alternatives involving improvements in ploughing, soil protection, increasingly environmentally friendly equipment, advanced irrigation systems, and feasible methods to drive planting in countries with emerging agriculture. Today, new trends show that by relying on technology, agriculture is more likely to meet the challenges to come.