According to the last survey conducted by American Fruit Grower® and Western Fruit Grower ® and Western Fruit Grower ® in 2021, more and more gardeners are prone to digitalization of production, however, there are also those who, in principle, rejects dependence on artificial intelligence.
Thus, in last year's survey, 56% of manufacturers reported the use of accurate agriculture tools - from the arrays of sensors to applications for smartphones, and this year the number of wishes increased to 62%, writes David Eddie in his article on the portal www.grownucece.com.
"To be competitive in the horticultural industry, you must have as much information available for the enterprise to make important decisions. Cost reduction is possible only if you measure and have accurate data. High-precision technologies help to fill the gaps in knowledge, "they say supporters of accurate farming.
Others are not so optimistic: "The cost of introducing new technologies is a high obstacle. The use of new technologies is very expensive, and you need time to recoup the invested funds. "
Third at all were not satisfied with the result: "The experience was only negative: most technologies are overvalued, require a lot of time and unprofitable. Much ado about nothing".
The overwhelming majority of comments from those who are not ready for experiments with digitalization are reduced to complaints of impossibility to apply technologies on small farms and the absence of technical support.
"My farm is too small to justify the costs, and I do not understand the smartphones or computers," says one of the farmers, adding, "Our District is Malconalelen, and find help in this matter."
It should be noted that those who understand the technologies do not have problems and see only the advantages. The reduction in the number of materials used on the farm is, of course, the most important factor in the adoption of more accurate and economical application of fertilizers and agrochemicals with the possibility of modeling the cyclicity of breeding insect pests.
Here are some answers directly from gardeners published in the questionnaire.
What was the driving force for the introduction of accurate agriculture technology (for example, personnel problems, more accurate fertilizer or pesticides, desire to be on advanced innovation)?
"I want to better know what to expect in the season and what can be done to improve the farm."
"We need more accurate information about landing and management, as well as the desire to be in the forefront."
"The desire to understand what is happening, and responding rationally."
"Interested in irrigation because of the possibility of drought. We are interested in weather forecast and data collection so that I can know the best time for planting crops. "
"Basically, the protection of plants is interested in: modeling the population of insect pests and diseases, and we will use meteorological stations to protect against frosts."
"We use sensors for better data collection that help us track things like pest modeling to use pesticides. Unfortunately, we have no reliable Internet and cellular communication on the farm, which does not allow us to use many solutions. "
"The need to obtain more accurate information about the weather and register the introduction of fertilizer and the CRP for the crop."
"The irrigation sensors are relevant, water meters and other tools for the implementation of a sustainable development program."
"Monitoring prices for spraying materials. High prices for pesticides are displaced by crop production. "
Why didn't you introduce an accurate farm on your farm?"A lot of tools for visualization and counting fruit do not help me as a manufacturer. Consider too late. I need something to see the fruits when falling out the petal, and then during chemical thinning. "
"Some tools can collect a lot of data, but sometimes it is impossible to apply them to make business solutions."
"It is difficult to decide which technologies are trustworthy. So many sellers promote their products that it is difficult to say that it is best for us. "
"I strive to work outside the Internet and independently of technology."
"We are a small enterprise, and we can get the necessary testimony in practice. Nevertheless, I believe that many tools for accurate farming are great, and I would have thought about using some of them in the future. "
"I have not yet seen a tool for accurate farming, which would prove its economic feasibility."
"We need payback and reliability. All these new things break. "
"I have a very small commercial vineyard, so the costs of equipment for accurate farming are not justified."
"The irony lies in the fact that as we move towards technologies, we lose sight of nature. We try to be the most holistic and consonant nature. "
"Most practices need time for testing before I rely on them."
"Because I work on the future of humanity, and not over the future, when AI (artificial intelligence) controls humanity."
(Source: www.growingproduce.com. Posted by David Eddie, Editor of Meister Media Worldwide magazines, American Fruit Grower, Western Fruit Grower).