David spoke to Investment Monitor about new agricultural technologies, including robotics.
Read the full article here.
“Dr David Rose, Elizabeth Creak Associate Professor of agricultural innovation and extension at the University of Reading in the UK, explains that when thinking of agritech, images of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics or gene-edited organisms spring to mind for many. However, the industry also includes simpler things such as tractors, combine harvesters or milking machines. This means that robots can be used to increase the sustainability of agriculture and address issues such as a shortage of manual labour, says Rose at the University of Reading. He points to the case of a post-Brexit UK, which is experiencing difficulty filling posts previously held by migrant seasonal workers (and, more recently, problems stemming from food pickers having to socially distance). With robot workers, neither of these problems is an issue.
I think that for quite some time we have known that our food system is somewhat broken. That is both in terms of problems with primary production – we have done too much damage to the environment – and that we need to produce more food,” says Rose, who draws attention to the need to resolve these issues in an environmentally friendly way, especially with net-zero targets in mind. Rose adds that agritech can be the tool to produce more food, while assuring there is less food waste, and also potentially increasing transparency and trust in the supply chain for the consumer.”