The Asia Pacific is home to 450 million smallholder farmers who account for more than 80 per cent of the region’s food production.

Despite being the key to addressing food security, smallholders are underserved and lack access to basic tools that can unlock the full potential and value of their farms. Most commonly, smallholder farmers struggle to access suitable farming inputs, better farming practices to produce better yield and quality, and connections with the right buyers for the right prices.

It does not help that the current agricultural value chain is highly inefficient – with layers of intermediaries standing between smallholders and consumers. This means more hands vying for their slice of the pie and lesser profits for farmers.

For example, returns from small-scale rice farming are only between US$2 – US$6 a day per farm. It is not surprising that many choose to leave the land, putting more pressure on a system at its breaking point.

To make farming a profitable profession, we need to ensure that the people growing the crops are rewarded fairly for their work. And that starts by placing the farmer at the centre of an ecosystem of integrated solutions.

Introducing the ecosystem concept

Many are familiar with the success of Apple’s ecosystem and the value that it brings to its users.

While any individual Apple product is good on its own merits, the Apple ecosystem is not about a single product. It is about a whole array of technology and offers, from Apple or external partners, that, when used together, is more than the sum of its individual parts.

Similarly, a farmer-centric ecosystem in agriculture involves an interconnected and interdependent network of diverse providers that address various farmer needs throughout their farming journey.

Also Read: Can agritech solve the world’s growing food security problem?

This is a concerted effort across the value chain, from suppliers of farm input and agronomic expertise to providers of farm services, financial and insurance services, tools for smart agriculture, and linkage to the offtake market, food processing companies and consumers.

Furthermore, just as Apple led the orchestration of their ecosystem, an ecosystem in agriculture requires a trusted party to convene partners that share a similar vision of continuously creating new value for farmers and the whole community.

Syngenta has taken the lead in catalysing this unique Farming Ecosystem, whereby the benefit to farmers is not merely derived from individual transactions but elevated overall through new value architecture and customer experience.

Technology is a key enabler of the farming ecosystem

Many services in an ecosystem rely on various technologies to complete a holistic offering. This does not refer only to the big, transformative technologies. Even the simplest of technologies can make a huge difference in emerging markets.

Soil testing, for instance, can determine the current fertility and health of soils so that farmers can apply the right amount of fertilizer. This helps manage the use of inputs compared to the current norm of blanket application and greatly reduces the overall cost to the farmer. Some examples of emerging technologies in this area include devices that provide real-time analysis and results.

Another example is using AI-assisted recognition of high-resolution images to identify pests or diseases affecting different crops. Through this, farmers can obtain an accurate and immediate diagnosis, followed by advice on solutions such as optimal pesticide use.

Equally, digital platforms can provide farmers with live access to the latest knowledge to support better crop decisions and respond quickly to challenges. It is a powerful tool to connect farmers, suppliers, retailers and consumers at scale and facilitate communication and transactions among them. During this process, valuable data is also generated and shared, building trust between each stage of the production chain.

Partnerships are key to the ecosystem’s success

As a leading Ag company, Syngenta is pioneering and convening CENTRIGO Farming Ecosystem alongside partners to develop a scalable combination of physical and digital (also known as ‘phygital’) solutions that will empower farmers to overcome inefficiencies, improve livelihoods and ensure the resilience of food security in the Asia Pacific.

The quality and reliability of partnerships within such an ecosystem will determine its strength and success. If you are a technology provider or an investor, now is the time to get involved.

Meeting the food demands of consumers will require connecting millions of farmers through innovative technologies, an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

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This article was first published on October 12, 2022

The post The future of farming in the Asia Pacific is here to empower farmers appeared first on e27.