One of the fundamental sectors for the Brazilian economy, agribusiness has been the place where great innovations are being successfully applied, and this thanks to agrotechs.
With a focus on providing solutions to minimize environmental impacts and improve processes through technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and the Internet of Things, agribusiness startups are playing a highly relevant role in the field, providing increasingly better conditions for producers. .
What is Agrotech?
The term is used to name companies that promote innovation in the agribusiness sector through the application of new technologies in the field. According to Arne Duss and Jonah Kolb, agrotechs can be defined as:
“Individual technologies or a combination of technologies related to agricultural equipment, timing, seed optimization, fertilizer and crop inputs, irrigation, remote sensing (including drones), farm management and agricultural big data management.”
How is the Agribusiness scenario in Brazil?
The GDP of Brazilian agribusiness grew 8.36% in 2021 compared to the previous year, reaching a share of 27.4% in the country’s GDP, as shown by data from CEPEA (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics) in partnership with the CNA (Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil).
In recent years, even with the pandemic and other issues such as the weather (droughts, frost, rain, etc.), an increase in pests and diseases, interruptions in transport, price changes and the energy crisis, the participation of agribusiness in the Brazilian economy has grown.
In five years, this growth went from 20.6% to 27.4%.
The scenario is promising and agribusiness startups play an important role in it, as they enable the optimization of processes, cost reduction and improvement in production quality.
This means that products have a greater possibility of appreciation and producers greater profits to reinvest and constantly improve.
The influence of technology in agribusiness
Whether before, inside or after the gate, the use of technology in the agricultural sector is becoming more and more effective. according to one study carried out by the Associação Brasileira de Startups in 2021 , the predominant technologies in agrotechs are 79.6% related to software and 20.4% to hardware.
And within this scenario, the distribution of technological resources involves:
- Application of data (22.5%)
- Artificial Intelligence (19.8%),
- Internet of Things (16.6%)
- Communication Software (15.2%)
- Cloud and Device Management (13%)
- Intrinsic Safety (2%)
- Augmented Reality (0.7%)
- Virtual Reality (0.5%)
- and other technologies (9.8%).
Technology has become the main ally of the agricultural sector, and through agrotechs it has made it possible to increase productivity, profits and efficiency, ensuring safety in operations.
And the trend is that these benefits will only increase with the passage of time and the evolution of technology, as processes can be transformed and the agricultural production chain benefited.
The 5 main Agribusiness Startups in Brazil
The ecosystem of agribusiness startups in Brazil is vast and is growing every day.
And to understand the nuances of the scenario and identify its growth and evolution, several surveys are carried out periodically by companies such as Distrito, an open innovation platform that outlined an overview of Brazilian agrotechs in 2021 through the Distrito Mining Report – Agtech 2021.
See below the top five agribusiness startups in Brazil according to the survey.
agrosmart
Working with precision agriculture, Agrosmart is present in Israel, the United States and other Latin American countries, optimizing processes for collecting crop data, assisting in the monitoring and analysis of this data and generating recommendations in real time that help the rural producer in making of decision.
GlobalYeast
Biotechnology agrotech founded in 2015, GlobalYeast offers solutions for the bioethanol sector and other green materials. Through its solutions, it is possible to monitor fermentation in real time, obtain information on the transformation of sugar into ethanol and thus help in estimating performance and optimizing the process, in addition to supporting strategic planning and operational decisions.
Solinftec
One of the precision agriculture startups that received the most funding in the sector (US$ 60 million in 2020), Solinftec connects people, machines and climate information to provide information capable of optimizing mechanical operations, rationalizing inputs and improving productivity.
SoluBio
Providing biotechnology solutions, SoluBio works with a focus on biological agricultural defensives, and has developed a system that allows properties to produce their own bioinput through an integrated biological management system.
This solution is capable of reducing costs by up to 40% in soybean, corn, cotton, wheat, coffee, sugarcane and horticultural crops.
xmobots
Agrotech automation and robotization, Xmobots specializes in drones and develops equipment capable of assisting in mapping the area, capturing crop data, spraying inputs and detecting failures in planting.
Its solutions optimize work and make decisions more assertive, in addition to reducing operating costs.
What is the impact that Agrotechs cause in the world?
Agrotechs are one of the categories of startups that have the potential to cause great global impact, since their activities do not only benefit producers, but everyone who is part of the agribusiness chain.
See below the main points of impact of agrotechs in the world .
job creation
The use of technology to improve processes in agriculture requires trained professionals who are ready to identify problems and develop appropriate solutions, which generates business opportunities both in startups and in farms that adopt the solutions.
Process automation
The automation of processes reduces failures and improves the quality of the final product, generating productivity, increased production and better prices.
Reduction of environmental impact
The use of technologies for the production of biofertilizers, treatment of inputs and changes in production processes are aimed at reducing the environmental impact, and the more farms adopt agrotech solutions, the smaller the environmental impact generated by agribusiness.
Improvement in the quality of services that impact human health
Monitored processes provide quality products that directly impact human health. And this impact also occurs due to safety in operations, which guarantees the physical integrity of the worker.
Agrotechs: the driving force behind agribusiness
Agrotechs are gaining more and more strength and help to strengthen the entire agribusiness production chain, with innovative solutions and job creation. In this way, everyone involved benefits.
Good agribusiness management combined with state-of-the-art technologies is the driving force of agribusiness in Brazil and there is no better time than this to invest in solutions capable of influencing one of the sectors that grows the most and most influences the economy.