Invest in new technology, not bigger farms, to make profits in agribusiness. The drive to get big in agribusiness is leaking money from most ventures,experts have opined that this drive to get big or get out of agribusiness is the wrong approach.
Agribusiness has massive profit potential but the gains of the business is in investing in technology,to be profitable today producers still need to get bigger, but real gains come with investing seriously in agricultural technology, and not simply expansion or farm enlargement. Farmers need strategies to use technology especially precision agriculture ,use of drones,sensors and most importantly use genetic or bio-engineering techniques.
The goal to feed the ever increasing population has to be with smart agricultural practices,using technology to boost production, preservation and proper distribution to ensure farm produce is not lost or wasted. The use of technology to foster farms will not be limited to production but to the entire chain if profit and food security is to be achieved.
Agriculture with technology(agritech) is the way forward for agribusiness,farmers need to push the bar with innovative technologies which can be done individually or as a group or better still there can be a call for investors in form of partnerships. more
The smart pot has sensors that detect the status of a plant, like whether it’s receiving enough water and sunlight, or if soil conditions are optimum. Even though Greenopia is catering to smaller segment, its influence on the plant cultivation is interesting.
Food packaging and transport is an important part of the food chain,food must be delivered fresh and valuable. The majority of food waste that arises in the value chain is simply because of lack of adequate preservation and packaging technique to ensure the food is delivered fresh.
The rural farmers and small holder farmers that produce majority of food shipped out lack all these innovations and end up losing money due to waste as a result of spoilage of food.The innovations in this area must be cheap ,readily available and simple and easy to operate.
In California ,purfresh is addressing some of the challenges ; purfresh reduce decay, reduce pathogens, control ripening, and enhance food safety all at once .
Purfresh doesn’t use any chemicals to solve these challenges rather they make use of the power of ozone. Ozone (O3) oxidizes decay causing & pathogenic microbial that results in reducing decay and it also removes Ethylene resulting in controlling the ripening of fruits.
The farming industry will become more important than ever before in the next few years,simply because the world needs to produce 70% more food in 2050 than it did in 2006 in order to feed the growing population of the Earth, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
The food security challenge has made farmers and agricultural companies turn to the Internet of Things for analytics and greater production capabilities.See
The IoT will push the future of farming to the next level by using smart agriculture ,which is already becoming more popular among farmers. High tech farming(agritech) is quickly becoming the standard mode of operation especially with the advent of agricultural drones and sensor.
Farmers have already begun employing some high tech farming techniques and technologies in order to improve the efficiency of their day-to-day work. For example, sensors placed in fields allow farmers to obtain detailed maps of both the topography and resources in the area, as well as variables such as acidity and temperature of the soil. They can also access climate forecasts to predict weather patterns in the coming days and weeks.
Farmers can use their smartphones to remotely monitor their equipment, crops, and livestock, as well as obtain stats on their livestock feeding and produce. They can even use this technology to run statistical predictions for their crops and livestock. Drones have become an invaluable tool for farmers to survey their lands and generate crop data. More
The poultry industry is well grounded in Nigeria with an estimated worth of over 100 billion Naira. There are a large number of commercial players and also small holder farmers in the sector most of which are located in the south-western part of the country,with close proximity to Lagos state.
There is a large market for poultry products in the country as evidenced by the 1.2 million tonnes of products smuggled into the country annually,the recent ban on imported poultry products has opened up more markets for home-grown products.
A series of “megatrends” will permanently reshape agribusiness as the world’s producers and industry stakeholders re-calibrate to tackle the challenges of feeding 9 billion people in 2050, reports Christopher Nolan Sr., managing director at global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.C. (PwC). The PwC’s top five global megatrends include:
1) Demographic shifts.
2) Shift in global economic power.
3) Accelerating urbanization
4). Resource scarcity
5)Evolving technology.
Lagos with a population of about 21 million people with majority in middle and upper class who show preference for poultry products,the state fits perfectly into the mega-trend that will shape agribusiness.
We have the population,(numbers) more people are moving to Lagos, we practice urban-agric and also incorporate greenhouse and biocrop technology.
The state itself has commercial farmers and small holder farmers in the poultry sector churning out large numbers of chicken and eggs .
The state with a vision to be Africa's mega city and global economic financial hub has dedicated zones and areas where poultry farms are domiciled. The state has invested heavily in the poultry sector with poultry estates in Ikorodu,Ojo ,farm settlements in Badagry and a training school in Epe.
The state with a policy thrust to eradicate poverty through infrastructural renewal and development recently embarked on an empowerment programme where cages,poultry equipment,eggs and suitable land was allocated to poultry farmers to upscale their level of production .
The federal government with the Agricultural transformation agenda to increase crop production and also to create value added food processing industries as a means to reduce food imports and create jobs, has given the state a platform to call for private sector participation in the poultry value chain alongside other 22 agricultural chains.
Investments into the poultry industry in the country recently got a boost with a Multi-Net group leading with plans to establish a farm and also the African development bank injecting 34.5 billion naira to boost the agricultural sector.
A partnership between the government and a Portuguese company to establish a feed mill in the country is on going.( pls check earlier posts for details of these investments.)
Investors in the poultry value chain can look into these areas;
1) Processing plant: many of the smuggled products are processed ,indicating the preference for more processed poultry.
A processing plant can process poultry as chicken sausages, canned chicken, processed frozen, stewed or fried.
The introduction of new processed products will not only be very profitable but more jobs will be available as more chicken will be in demand.
2) Egg powder plant; investors can look into this area, egg powder is very important in so many industries and establishment of such will also increase egg sales. The state is embarking on a school feeding programme, where eggs will be part of the menu.
This programme itself demands more eggs to be produced ,and also the eggplant will compliment this effort to ensure that eggs are always available,by extending the shelf-life.
There are seasons where there is egg glut,the egg powder plant will solve this problem and add more economic value to it.
3) Production is another point of investment: we are calling for investors to revamp the industry in terms of more production. This will be traced to the onset of production.
There are partnerships with various hatcheries with various breeds in the country,however new and well established breeds can be introduced into the country, to add to what is on ground and also create a platform for breeding. Breeding centers can be established to fashion- out how to get our own highly productive and hardy breed.
4) Waste management: investors can look into the bio-gas plant to generate electricity and gas or to process as fertilizers which can benefit farmers.
5) Production of fashion accessories: feathers can also be processed and sold as fashion accessories.The blood and fat can also be processed and incorporated into animal feed.
6)Transportation : investors can look into cooling vans,trucks and buses. This is to ensure that the products get to the market in good condition.The transportation of live birds to markets is another area of investment.
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