Global food production will have to increase by 60% to meet the demands of a population that could exceed nine billion by 2050, estimates the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) for food and agriculture. At the same time, the agency points out that around 40% of agricultural crops in the world are currently lost to pests, which are becoming more destructive due to climate change. To deal with the challenges, technology is the bet.

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Drones, satellites, sensors placed in plants and animals, equipment and vehicles remotely connected to each other are examples of tools that are already used. However, the large volume of data that has been produced at all stages of the agribusiness production chain depends on the use of artificial intelligence tools to process information and extract knowledge.

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In this sense, Brazil is moving in step with the digital transformation. A 2022 McKinsey consultancy survey points out that about 50% of farmers already adopt or are willing to adopt precision agriculture technologies, especially remote sensing, drones and variable rate fertilizer application - that is, the insertion of portions different types of fertilizer in each part of the field.

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For Adevanio Rodrigues, CEO of AD USA Consulting, agriculture 5.0 can be a tool to ensure food security at affordable prices. “Agriculture 5.0 has the ability to increase production, increase efficiency, generate additional profit and help the global food supply,” he says. 

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Technological solutions that can be adopted in the field include IoT (Internet of Things) and real-time online monitoring. In the first case, the application can occur in the integration of data to the management system of the farms, which, according to Rodrigues, facilitates decision-making by managers. Monitoring, on the other hand, “allows the producer to have data on climate, soil and pests”.

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Regarding this last aspect, in the McKinsey study, the country also stands out in the adoption of sustainability practices through direct planting, cover crops and biological control. But it loses out in the use of carbon credits: only 6% of Brazilian farmers use the program, half the percentage detected by the same survey in Europe.

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The CEO of AD USA Consulting sees agriculture 5.0 as a way to curb climate change through energy efficiency. "Agriculture's next step is to make the sector smarter and significantly more energy efficient."

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According to Embrapa's publication “The digital transformation in the field towards sustainable and intelligent agriculture”, agriculture 5.0 also needs to foster public policies and strategies to address the social and political aspects of agricultural systems; contribute to reducing food losses and understanding consumer needs and their diets, seeking to mitigate the impact on the use of natural resources and the environment.

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The expectations of agriculture 5.0 are promising, but first Brazil needs to deal with a major obstacle: connectivity. Currently, only 23% of the rural area is connected in the country. A study carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2021, points out that the installation of antennas in 4,400 existing towers together with the installation of another 15,000 new antennas would result in practically total coverage of the need for rural connection in the country.