AgTech strategic plan set to increase adoption rates

Created by the SA AgTech Advisory Group, which formed in September last year and is chaired by former SA chief scientist Leanna Read, the plan outlines seven overarching principles that will be at the centre of the development of future specific business plans.

The principles have been developed based on feedback from more than 600 producers, advisers, researchers and suppliers who completed the SA AgTech Survey 2020. The survey highlighted three main barriers to agtech adoption - value proposition, lack of knowledge and understanding, and difficulties with technology deployment.

Ms Read said agtech has been estimated to be able to add $2.6 billion a year to the gross value of SA's agricultural production, but as it stands, uptake of technologies remains limited.

"We have a lot of agtech solutions that are either coming along or are already developed, but we're not adopting them very well on-farm - we're largely restricted to sensors and software for farm management and precision agriculture, but huge opportunities exist much more broadly," Ms Read said.

The first four principles of the plan - networking and collaboration, demonstration and understanding, entrepreneurial capability and skills and education - focus on supporting relationships between agtech developers and primary producers.

"The focus at the moment is about how we can get more agtech into the agricultural sector, and the whole chain needs to be working, optimised, and synergistic to make this a reality," she said.

"We can't develop technology in isolation of the end users, we frequently need to bring everyone together.

"Those sitting in the middle of developers and farmers, who understand the different parts of the supply chain and the needs of both sides, are like gold."

Network connectivity has also been highlighted in the plan, with recommendations to contact connectivity solution providers, as well as local government, education, emergency services, health and banking which rely on good connectivity, to provide cross-industry solutions.

Technology compatibility, involving the creation of single solutions to address a range of needs, and government leadership to enable and encourage agtech adoption, were also listed as key principles in the strategic plan.

Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister David Basham has announced an initial $2.4 million in state government funding across three years to achieve the objectives of the inaugural SA AgTech Strategic Plan.

"This is an exciting time, for the first time in SA we have a collaborative and cohesive blueprint for the agtech sector," Mr Basham said.

State-government led initiatives will include the opening of agtech demonstration farms at government research sites in Nuriootpa, Turretfield, Minnipa and Port Lincoln, and will also help to establish agtech startup hubs in the South East and on the Eyre Peninsula.

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Agtech extension officers will also be appointed across the state, including independent Intermediaries and agtech ambassadors, to act as trusted advisers for producers.

"The Marshall Liberal government firmly believes that supporting innovation and advancement in the field of agtech is essential to increase the productivity, growth and sustainability of primary industry sectors in SA," Mr Basham said.

"I look forward to the success this plan will bring for SA agtech industries."

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