zondag 12 juni 2016

The Economist over ICT in Agri

Mooi artikel in The Economist van deze week. Hun Technology Quarterly gaat over de toekomst van de landbouw, hoe ICT die in de wereld van de industrie brengt. Het gaat niet over economie, op 3 alinea's aan het eind na, die ik even citeer:

"The technological rationale for precision suggests farms should continue to consolidate, though in an industry in which sentiment and family continuity have always played a big part that purely economic analysis might suggest is irrational, this may not happen as fast as it otherwise would. Still, regardless of the speed at which they arrive, these large holdings will come more and more to resemble manufacturing operations, wringing every last ounce of efficiency out of land and machinery.

Such large-scale farms will probably continue to be served by large-scale corporations that provide seeds, stock, machines and management plans. But, in the case of the management plans, there is an opening for new firms with better ideas to nip in and steal at least part of the market.

Other openings for entrepreneurs are available, too. Both inland fish farming and urban vertical farming—though niche operations compared with Midwestern soyabean cultivation or Scottish sea-loch salmon farms—are waves of the future in the service of gustatorially sophisticated urbanites. And in these businesses, the idea of farm as factory is brought to its logical conclusion.

Wie zich even bij wil lezen over technische ontwikkelingen in de landbouw, moet naar de kiosk. 

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