Thai agriculture sector gets aggressive with IT spending: IDC

• Driven by government policies focused on smart farming and innovation
• Challenges include technology foundation, education and affordability

 
THE modernisation and digitalisation of the Thai agricultural sector is driving growth in IT spending to 7.02%, according to IDC.
 
The transformation that is beginning to take place is being driven by Thai Government policies focused on smart farming and enabling technology-led innovation to transform traditional agriculture practices, the research and analyst firm said in a statement.
 
Agriculture employs 39% of the Thai population and is the major source of domestic income, IDC said. But Thai farming faces many challenges – land erosion, fertility and poor labour productivity.
 
The opportunity to build holistic digital capabilities that enable the establishment of smart farming using third platform technologies – cloud, mobility and analytics – and enabling data-driven insights to drive decision-making, will deliver big impacts in terms of productivity and yield, IDC said.
 
However, there are challenges, particularly the technology foundations, education and affordability, the company added.
 
“The issue is not really the technology itself – it is available,” said IDC Energy Insights head of worldwide mining, Emilie Ditton.
 
“It is about building the right ecosystem that serves the requirements of Thai agricultural communities and delivers it in a way that is cost-effective and easy to use.
 
“Agricultural companies that successfully examine the role and treatment of technology along with the farms, farms metrics, work practice and regional agriculture process will differentiate themselves through superior financial results, attracting talent and investment,” she added.
 
New smart farming projects will change the way technology and agricultural practices interact, IDC said.
 
Third Platform technologies – particularly, mobility, big data and analytics – along with innovation accelerators (such as robotics, the Internet of Things, cognitive systems and big data analytics) are coming together to shape operations and change the role that technology plays.
 
IDC’s analysis of IT spending growth by the Thai agriculture sector shows growth driven by crop yield technology and third-party information services.
 
Thai agriculture organisations are seeking to overcome challenges through solutions that can improve yield management, harvesting systems, and farm asset management.
 
The role of the Internet of Things (IoT), and managing and using data insights effectively, will form an increasingly important part of value delivery, the company said.
 
“The Thai agricultural sector is just at the beginning of its digitalisation – this is a transformative process that will shift the nature of Thai farming as technology capabilities are introduced,” said IDC Thailand country manager Michael Araneta (pic).
 
“The process will be step by step – finding the easiest and fast opportunities to make a difference will be the first steps.
 
“Ultimately, it will transform farming in Thailand,” he added.
 
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