Challenges such as water saving, climate change, food safety, logistics and generational replacement in the agricultural sector all require increased digitalization.
Business IT, that is, the sum of knowledge and digital capabilities for managers and business professionals who want to lead the digital transformation of their companies, finds in Big Data and Cloud Computing the perfect team to make more accurate predictions, optimize resources and increase the productivity and performance of plantations.
What are Big Data and Cloud Computing?
Big Data is defined as the use of intelligent technology to analyze large volumes of information quickly and efficiently for profit.
On the other hand, Cloud Computing is the low environment where Big Data information is stored and where applications and specialized software are executed to process and access this data.
Unlike traditional server schemes, Cloud Computing allows the processing of large volumes of Big Data information thanks to one of its key features: scalability. This means that it allows us to expand the capacity of our cloud platform whenever necessary, avoiding any kind of saturation.
Benefits they bring
The main benefits of bringing together both of these technologies can be summarized as:
- Cost reduction: Cloud Computing works on a pay-per-use basis, without the need to assume considerable monthly fees. Big Data is a very interesting tool for optimizing available resources, resulting in considerable cost savings (reducing the use of phytosanitary products or using water for irrigation in an optimal way).
- Increase productivity: Data analysis of all information obtained by sensors on crops facilitates decision making and also minimizes the associated risks by having real-time data on the state of crops (soil moisture, solar radiation, temperature, etc.).
- Control all phases of the agricultural product: Big Data can be used to optimize the entire set of activities that take place in a plantation, with reliable data that allow adjusting each of the tasks, from land preparation, through planting and irrigation, to harvesting the crop. Thanks to this new technology, professionals in the agricultural sector can measure and record all stages of the crop until the products reach the final consumer.
- Improve the supply chain: Agricultural products are perishable, in addition to the freshness component that directly relates to their level of quality. Hence the importance of optimizing the industry’s supply chain. Big Data offers valuable data to improve all phases of logistics and transportation of agricultural products, increasing the performance and efficiency of all the agents involved (agricultural companies, transporters, distributors and points of sale).
Conclusions
Both Cloud Computing and Big Data continue to evolve unstoppably, constantly incorporating new functionalities. And getting on the bandwagon of these innovations is no longer the exclusive preserve of large technology corporations: traditional companies, SMEs and other players can benefit from them.
Learn more about Big Data and Cloud Computing in our Master in International Agribusiness Management classes, where students touch on everything from accounting and leadership skills to agribusiness operations and innovation.
