Precision Agriculture gets strong Momentum in Mid Market
Precision agriculture is a concept which facilitates farmers to aggregate geospatial, terrain, weather and other multidimensional data to efficiently use farm time and resources. It provides farmers with precise guidance what, where, when and how they should plant in order to maximize the yield of their farms. Integrating big data capabilities with their farms allows farmers to capitalize on weather and terrain patterns, soil and seed types, and have granular visibility into their land.
Big data was introduced into the agribusiness industry in 2013, when agrochemical giant Monsanto spent close to $1B to acquire Climate Corporation, an early leader in enabling farms to utilize weather data for crop yield. Since then almost all major players in agrichemicals started to explore how to make best use of big data and corresponding platforms to help farmers in achieving their ambitious goals. However, besides the “big guys” also small and midsize companies start to lay the foundation for digitally transforming their business and leverage big data platforms to enable precision agriculture for a sustainable growth and performance. Here are 3 examples which serve as a strong proof for this:
Ballance Agri-Nutrients – Helping Farmers prosper with SAP S/4HANA
The heart of Balance Agri Nutrients is helping farmers create sustainable, viable businesses. To drive better on site productivity and profitability for its farmers Balance needed the right foundation for establishing its company’s digital future. Placing SAP S/4HANA and SAP BusinessObjects business intelligence solutions at its digital core with the help of partner Soltius, Balance is executing is executing operations on a technology road map based on simplification and real-time transactions. With simple, intuitive, and streamlined business processes, the company is helping both internal and external customers conduct business and increase productivity. Balance is also enabling knowledge growth and decision making for optimal business and customer outcomes. SAP solutions are at the heart of Balance’s digital strategy, helping the company meet its goal of creating a great customer digital experience across every company touch point.
ICHIBAN Crop Science – Outgrowing the Competition with SAP S/4HANA
Feeding 1.25 billion people with limited land, water and other resources is a core challenge faced by Indian farmers – and an impossibility just 50 years ago. ICHIBAN Crop Science is committed to improving crop production to help local farmers meet the demands of a growing population. To help do this, it has launched the Information Communication Technology project as the backbone to achieving product quality, timely product availability, trust with farmers, cost control and maximum profits. ICHIBAN placed the SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management solution at the core of Information Communication Technology. With SAP S/4HANA, the company is able to analyze data much more quickly and make faster business decisions. Employee productivity has increased with less time spent on number crunching and more time on putting those numbers to use. ICHIBAN has improved business processes around managing accounts receivable and payable, inventory and asset management, purchasing, and sales and distribution – all lading to ICHIBAN’s ability to meet customer demands with high quality products.
Fertimig – Laying Foundations for continuous Growth and Innovation Management Processes with SAP S/4HANA
Fertimig Fertilizantes Ltda has grown by leaps and bounds since it was founded in 2003. To keep up this pace and achieve its bold growth target, in 2015 it implemented the SAP S/4HANA Finance solution and deployed the Agro Solution, developed by Agile Solutions on the SAP platform. The new management system allowed Fertimig to automate processes, adopt market best practices, optimize outcomes, and lay a solid foundation for sustainable business growth.
To also see what Brazilian Company STARA is doing in Precision Agriculture, watch the following video.
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