Agriculture 4.0 can be a lever for the national economy amid a pandemic and a high dollar appreciation

28 April 2020

The rise in dollar appreciation against the Brazilian Real - which reached its highest peak in history in April when it closed at R$ 5.70 - added to the restrictions taken due to the pandemic of COVID-19, has transformed the agribusiness on a global scale.

For some sectors, such as soybeans, the current conditions have become positive. Exports to China, with the American currency at these levels, have already reached 35% for the 2020/21 harvest against the average of 15% for this period. However, for productions such as coffee and sugarcane, the opposite occurs and is already causing concern. In the United States, the country with the highest consumption of gasoline in the world, fuel prices have been falling since March, when they fell 32% and reached the lowest level ever recorded.

Both for markets that have been expanding during the crisis and for those that are struggling with the current moment, the use of embedded technologies can be a way of maintaining competitiveness and reducing costs, something that is always sought by producers and agricultural companies. Through the optimisation of resources and inputs, production is able to avoid waste and make the best use of soil, fertilisers and raw materials.

"Technology is a strong ally of agribusiness, no matter the sector or the moment. We are talking about better use of the work as a whole, whether to increase sales with better cost-benefit or to remain in the currently unstable market", he evaluates Bernardo de Castro, president of Hexagon's Agriculture division.

The company is a global reference in digital solutions, offering technological tools that optimise all agricultural stages, from crop planning to harvest transportation. Still in the president's view, "digital solutions connect and synchronise all agricultural processes, resulting in more productivity and profitability for farms".

"We need to think broadly. Right now, the good performance of agriculture can not only guarantee a normal food supply but also help to alleviate the economic crisis arising from the pandemic of the new coronavirus. Guaranteeing agricultural production will be a way of contributing to the stabilisation of the economy and stop the fall of the Gross Domestic Product", he points out.

Another advantage of agricultural technology is that it maintains family farms and small manufacturers in the competitive circle. "In this time of cash containment, adapting and modernising the existing machinery can be the solution to promote big savings with inputs and process efficiency," he explains.

According to Bernardo de Castro, the technology shipped to manufacturers of tractors and implements aims to transform the machinery into "true technological tools for agricultural efficiency", he concludes.