Automation index increases by 12,5% in Brazilian agriculture

The Agrotech Index shows the level of automation adopted by Brazilian farmers and ranchers increased from 0.16% in 2019 to 0.18% in 2021, an increase of 12.5%. When zoomed in on agriculture alone, the index grew from 0.19 to 0.21 over the same period. In livestock the level of automation increased from 0.16 to 0.17%.

Survey

In a survey GS1 interviewed 370 producers, decision makers and influencers about acquisition of systems, machinery and equipment that carry out farming activities automatically.

They represent agribusiness companies of all sizes and throughout the entire country. “The main objective is to support adoption and usage of technologies in the Brazilian agribusiness sector. Moreover, we can address areas of further improvement according to identified needs”, the association’s president João Carlos de Oliveira said.

Technologies

The questionnaire and index comprise of three major components. The first one is environmental management inside farms, such as intelligent systems for water production, weather stations, pest monitoring methods and internet access in rural areas.

The second component focused on systems and software for managing rural properties, including purchases, stocks, payments and others. The third evaluated equipment adoption and automated solutions for each stage of the production process, from planting to harvesting.

Data management

The survey is designed to understand how much equipment is present on Brazilian farms and what portion of that equipment is automated. It also provides insight into how farmers monitor, collect and integrate data with farm management systems.

This data yields scores in an index, with scores running from zero to one. Zero here represents the absence of any kind of automation, and one represents full automation.

The main goal of the Agrotech Index is to provide information to the agribusiness ecosystem regarding the current level of automation and digitalisation of agricultural and livestock production processes in Brazil.