Denice R. Preston
John Deere, a company that is most well-known for its tractors, is entering the artificial intelligence business. 2017 John Deere Labs bought Blue River Technology for $305 million. Blue River Technology is a startup equipped with machine learning and computer vision technology that can identify every single plant on the farm. This means that healthy plant species will quickly identify herbicide-resistant weeds. The result? Farmers could reduce the use of chemicals by around 95% while increasing yields, According to the report from Blue River.
As environmental, social, and demographic issues challenge traditional agrifood production methods, entrepreneurs and investors are turning to innovative ideas.
After setting the scene in Feeding the Future: A Comprehensive Overview of the Agrifood Industry, In this article, we are now going into more specifics about the latest technologies that are revolutionizing the food production business. We will discuss promising emerging technologies being developed in the field and interesting new ventures that use them in Vertical farming, alternatives to protein sources, precision farming, agricultural biotechnology, and other exciting recent trends.
Vertical Farming for Controllable and Sustainable Production
Vertical agriculture is the method of growing plants in layers that are vertically stacked. This is possible by using shelves that increase by a wall or fence and using hydroponic techniques to feed the plants.
This technique is highly effective since it provides the control of many variables in production. It doesn’t just decrease the quantity of inputs required and includes control over pathogens that cause crop disease and parasitic insects.
Vertical Farming Market by Region ($ Million)
Many farms are located in Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan, as well as other technologically advanced countries that are leading the global market. The investment volume increased by 60 million dollars in 2015-2016 to $414 million in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
CapEx is expensive for these businesses. Small-scale and low-tech Vertical Farming enterprises can need around $280,000 in the beginning and up to 15 million to build a second-generation plant. The most cutting-edge plants comprise data management, plant automatization harvesting, and post-harvesting and harvesting automation. This type of plant is estimated to produce 55 times more food per acre than traditional farms. Additionally, innovations should cut operational costs, such as improving the efficiency of LED lighting employed in this method.
The major players in this space include AeroFarms, the American-based company that has been in business for over 15 years and has raked in $238 million. The other is Plenty (US), which has raised $226 million.
To protect the European environmental protection, Infarm (Germany) is a company based in Berlin that has raised $122 million. Agricool (France) has raised $36 million, and its main focus is on strawberry production. Attribution (Germany) has raised $4.6 million, and Sfera Agriccola (Italy) has raised $7.5 million and has revenue in the range of $4.23 million.
Increasing Use of Alternative Proteins
Researchers and companies are investing their energy into alternative protein sources since increasing demand for animal products will likely be a challenge due to the continual increase in demand for meat.
This means that, as a result, 46 of the total agricultural goods are being used only for feeding animals. Strategies to improve the effectiveness of conventional meat production have been exhausted, and they will not solve global agricultural and food issues.
Market players are thereby changing. Instead of increasing traditional meat production, many companies are now focusing on developing new products that substitute for conventional food items. The most promising areas include insect-based meats, unused vegan meat substitutes, and animal-based cultured meat.
The meat of insects comprises proteins derived from mealworms and crickets. This trend has advantages, such as the higher conversion of protein and energy compared to the traditional meat method. Insects have a greater chance to feed livestock than humans due to their flavor and texture differences from conventional roots and consumers’ negative perceptions about insects as a food source in most Western nations.
Global Meat Market Forecast
The two most exciting emerging trends are novel vegan alternatives to meat and cultured animal meat. The first doesn’t need animal ingredients; its taste is more like meat than the traditional substitute for vegans and vegetarians. The reason behind this is the sophisticated manufacturing method that uses hemoglobin and binders that are extracted by fermentation from the plants. Startups operating in this sector (e.g., Impossible Foods, JUST, Beyond Meat) have received over $900m in funding until the end of 2018. The products are available in grocery stores and restaurants.
The cultured meat option is an alternative to the meat produced by exponential cell growth in bioreactors. Culturing heart is the best opportunity, even if it’s in a low stage of development due to its substantial expense.
This process starts when a cell is removed from a live animal and grown in a lab to create a permanent culture (called the cell line). Cells can be derived from various sources, including biopsies from living animals, bits of fresh meat, or cells stored in cell banks. Cell lines may be based on primary cells or stem cells. After a viable cell line has been chosen and a sample inserted into a bioreactor, the cells proliferate and are taken. The result is meat that is virtually identical to animal flesh. No commercial products are available, although this method can change the multi-billion-dollar meat industry.
The most potentially disruptive trends could be novel vegan and cultured meat, which will reach 25% and 35% of the global market value in 2040 thanks to their high commercial potential motivated by their high similarity to real meat. They are, therefore, attractive to venture capitalists. In particular, cultured meat is believed to likely wto win over time likelynew vegan alternatives to heart will be vital during this transition stage.
