Skip to Content
Technology solutions support farmers to optimise their practices to overcome financial burdens and make more of a well-deserved profit while benefiting the planet. 

Opinion: Environment, Food Security & Nutrition

How Technology Supports Farmers to Protect Their Profitability

Corrina Filipovic Corrina Filipovic

Technology solutions are emerging to support farmers in optimising their farming practices to overcome financial burdens and preserve the planet.

2024 began with farmers across the world raising their voices and protesting as they are being hit by falling incomes, environmental regulations and competition from imports. Many farmers complained they feel caught between conflicting public demands for cheap food and climate-friendly processes while raising input prices makes significant hits to their bottom line. 

The most important question for agriculture is how to continue to produce more but better and how to tackle climate change while achieving higher productivity. Technology is thus emerging as a key ally in this path. Technology solutions support farmers to optimise their practices to overcome financial burdens and make more of a well-deserved profit while benefiting the planet. 

Stronger Motivation for Technology Adoption

A decade of digitalisation in agriculture has passed, while the adoption at medium-sized and small farms has fallen significantly to less than 5 per cent in the majority of markets, making the digitalisation of agriculture still at an early stage but with a lot of potential.  

Some of the obstacles that stand in the way of digital technology adoption are connectivity issues, budget constraints and an overall scepticism towards AI-generated predictions. However, external pressures like climate change, inflation, supply chain inconsistencies, regulations and the overall need for higher productivity act as catalysts pushing farmers toward technology adoption

By witnessing the tangible benefits technology brings to their farm businesses and overcoming economic challenges, farmers are becoming more motivated to use technology in their work. Farm management software (FMS) like AGRIVI 360 Farm Enterprise is particularly promising because it can equip farmers with data and information to efficiently manage their operations while simultaneously focusing on sustainability.  

Farm Management Solution for Sustainability and Profitability

FMS is the key step of the technology implementation in a farm because it serves as the foundation for all other digital solutions. It provides a centralized platform for data collection, analysis, and management, allowing farmers to make informed decisions based on real-time insights into farm operations. Without it, managing multiple other digital solutions can be challenging and may not deliver the expected outcomes.  

Image from AGRIVI

The impact of FMS on sustainability is not just theoretical—it’s tangible. AGRIVI clients worldwide report significant reductions in resource consumption and environmental impact. Namely, through real-time data and analytics, FMS assists farmers in optimising resource use, minimising the environmental footprint, and calculating precise quantities of inputs like fertilisers and water. 

FMS enables farmers to make informed choices on planting, irrigation, and pest control. It also monitors environmental factors like soil health, weather and crop performance, allowing farmers to adapt practices in real time, leading to enhanced yields and crop resilience. With its data-driven guidance, it also supports farmers to perform sustainable practices such as crop rotation and reduced tillage, enhancing soil health and water retention and ultimately reducing environmental harm. 

However, without productive and profitable crop production, sustainable agriculture would be just fiction, not reality. Thus, encouraging sustainability in agriculture practices must be followed by enabling farmers to overcome financial challenges and secure profit and livelihood.  

Concretely, implementing AGRIVI farm management software enables total cost savings from 10 to even 20 per cent, and up to 15 per cent profitability increase. Moreover, if the AGRIVI farm management platform is used fully to secure high yield and crop quality and to optimise costs, farms can strong return on investment, even 8-12 USD back for every 1 USD invested in AGRIVI platform. 

The End of “Business as Usual” Farming

Sustainable agriculture is not a choice but an imperative. As the world struggles with issues related to food security and environmental concerns, leveraging technology like farm management software provides optimism. It empowers farmers to make data-driven decisions that benefit both their bottom line and the planet.  

There is much room to grow in helping farmers overcome challenges, making their farm operations more efficient while maintaining profitability and making necessary changes toward more sustainable agriculture. Farm management software is not just a tool, it is a daily support of experts and data that encourage farmers to thrive and change.

This piece was originally published in AGRIVI and has been revised to suit Farming First’s editorial guidelines.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.