Assembly backs "Smart Farming"

(Pic : Emirates Business)

As someone who loathes buzzwords, I'm sceptical of the current trend of sticking "smart" in front of everything, but as such technologies have become more commonplace it's playing a part in all walks of life.

One area where the impact of smart technology/smart working perhaps hasn't been discussed as often as it should is farming. "Precision agriculture" has the potential to make a huge difference to the efficiency of farms (which improves food security to meet demand for food), as well as helping the environment by carefully targeting damaging, but vital, chemicals like pesticides.

This is such an incredibly niche subject I was in two minds whether to cover it. Nonetheless this is probably one of the few places you'll read about it - the other being the Assembly Research Service, who've produced a background summary here.

In their cross-party motion, AMs called for the Senedd to:

• Recognise the benefits of using "big data" in agriculture.
• Note agricultural research where precision technology improves yields, maximises use of resources and minimises the use of harmful chemicals.
• Call on the Welsh Government to develop a precision agriculture strategy.

Starting things off, Lee Waters AM (Lab, Llanelli) described the "puzzled" looks from colleagues when the debate motion was tabled (clip). This wasn't a whimsy discussion, but has huge practical applications for innovation, software, productivity and skills – going to the heart of challenges facing us on food security and climate change.

He quoted a Google executive who said the world now generates the same amount of information in two days than was produced in total between "the dawn of time and 2003". Real time information can help arable farmers determine water requirements, nitrogen levels, air quality and disease, meaning farmers know what each square inch of their land needs to produce maximum yields.

The use of big data could increase crop yields by 67%. Lee also cited other practical examples, such as New Zealand dairy farmers who've increased exports to China by 478% through the use of micro-measurements to determine how much grass cows need. In Carmarthenshire, farmers have used satellite imagery to record grass growth for dairy cows, while Aberystwyth University are developing forage grasses for flood mitigation.

This "fourth industrial revolution" gives us an opportunity to re-imagine the Welsh food economy as a "new furnace of industry".

A farmer by profession, Conservative leader Andrew Davies AM (Con, South Wales Central) explained that his farm already makes use of satellite imagery to control where pesticides and fertilisers are used (clip). This is instead of applying a uniform rate and not knowing if it's having an impact or leaching away and causing environmental damage. It may be a "quirky debate", but technology can have a huge impact as a large amount of Wales' land area is devoted to agriculture, with a huge opportunity to push boundaries, patent and develop emerging technologies - with pockets of innovation in universities and FE colleges.

Food productivity hasn't moved for 20-25 years to keep up with population growth, while the technology provides a consistent level of return to producers which makes it a wise investment.

Jenny Rathbone AM (Lab, Cardiff Central) cited a UN estimate that food production needs to increase by 60% to feed the global population (clip). The application of these technologies during the Zimbabwe famine in 2013 – such as using big data to foresee weather conditions and provide solutions - could've prevented the disaster, which put 2 million people at risk of malnutrition.

Jenny focused on two nations who've applied precision agriculture successfully. Firstly, Chile - which exports 50% of all fruit from the southern hemisphere – has used big data to manage water (which takes up 70% of water use, of which 60% of that is wasted), slashing its use for blueberries through the use of wireless sensors. Secondly, the Netherlands which produces most of Europe's fruit and vegetables - as well as 40% of the world's flowers - and has pioneered hydroponic greenhouses to boost productivity, balance soils and protect crops from the climate.

(Pic : hortidaily.com)

Neil Hamilton AM (UKIP, Mid & West Wales) admitted he knew little about the topic until he researched it, but has since decided it was a very worthwhile thing to discuss (clip). Food production will need to increase to meet population demand. Also, as the west focuses less on labour-intensive forms of agriculture, technology will be more important. Although farming may be regarded as old-fashioned, it's now able to take advantage of cutting-edge science that's often affordable even to small farmers. Hopefully as the decade continues, developing countries will be able to improve conditions for their own people.

Simon Thomas AM (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) said we all must realise this is already happening, as farming has long been a mix of heritage, art, science, technology and industry (clip). Most farmers will have GPS on their tractors, while a research project at Aberystwyth University was the first to use a drone to conduct a ground survey for fertiliser application in 2008.

Simon reflected on the first agricultural revolution which was started by Charles "Turnip" Townshend, which enabled the industrial revolution by increasing food production for cities – something similar to what's happening now. It has to be available to everyone though, not follow the GMO route which started as a "big corporate process" that told farmers how to farm. Simon also raised the point that there's no point in having big data if farmers can't access it; 60% of farmers endure internet speeds at or below 2mbps.

Rhun ap Iorwerth AM (Plaid, Ynys Môn) believes the size and scale of Wales makes us ideal to innovate in many areas, with plenty of examples already given (clip). There's a clear economic benefit in enabling farmers to do more with less as having large numbers of workers to work fields are a thing of the past. It was easy to think of rural Wales as "beautiful and slow-moving" as well as detatched from the 21^st Century, but that isn't the case, re-emphasising the importance of digital connections being made available to rural Wales.

On behalf of the Welsh Government, Environment & Rural Affairs Secretary, Lesley Griffiths (Lab, Wrexham), said she's received lots of correspondence on precision agriculture (clip). She repeated some of the opportunities and present applications – smart sensors, precision instruments and satellites - where information is gathered at high speed from places where it was previously impossible to do so, whether on individual farms, nationally or globally.

The Welsh Government are working to maximise agri-tech research income into Wales. Precision agriculture research is also part of a new post-Brexit agriculture strategy being developed. There are 12 Farming Connect projects where the technology is being demonstrated to farmers, while there are sustainable production grants for farmers to invest in modernisation – this will all put Wales at the forefront.

(Pic : Shropshire Star)

Summing up, Huw Irranca-Davies (Lab, Ogmore) was struck by the level of consensus on the potential for the technology (clip). Nevertheless it has to be a collaboration between government, industry, farmers and academia, and he was pleased to hear how it could embed itself into food strategies and the levels of support available. Huw has seen the technology at work on a visit to Harper Adams University near Telford where robots apply fertiliser and pesticides to individual plants in the fields. He also praised the open data Plantwise project which provides information on pest control and best practice.

He did, however, accept there were challenges: a lack of data scientists who know how to create relevant algorithms; a mismatch between data collected from different sources; quality control of "big data".

The motion was unanimously approved.

The ultimate form of precision agriculture is genetic modification/GMOs (Life, Ethics & Independence VI : Genetic Engineering), but that's something the Senedd and Welsh Government have historically opposed despite meeting all of the points AMs raised yesterday – though Simon Thomas addressed it and Andrew Davies hinted towards it in his contribution.

Opposition to GMOs comes from the same anti-science strand as climate change denial (being anti-Monsanto is something different), but if there are alternatives that don't involve genetics that are just as effective then they're worth considering too.