Data revolution in agriculture and the challenges for farmers - Transfarm 4.0 meets Patrick Crehan
You can view the interview on our YouTube Channel!
It's not the first time we meet Patrick Crehan, but it is always striking how insightful his observations can be.
Patrick Crehan is the Director of the Brussels-based company Crehan, Kusano & Associates (CKA), expert in cluster management and specialised in the management of research and innovation in agriculture.
He argues for the need to strategically think about the ways to address the challenges posed by the data revolution in agriculture. "Farming is no longer just about producing food", Crehan says. "Farmers provide many other services beyond the production of food and feed, and generally they are not really compensated for the provisions of these services. However, due to the increasing pressure on the food systems, these services are going to be more critical not only for the work of the farmer but for the life on the planet", Crehan points out.
"I think we are moving into an area where the farmer has to be better compensated for the provision of what you might call ecological services. All of this is going to rely on the use of data, whose recent intensification is the biggest change in agriculture nowadays. This is going to be a huge challenge not only for farmers but also for those who are involved in the technology transfer", the CKA's director stresses. "One of the problems working with data is that most farmers have no formal training, so most of them only have a vague idea of what data is, why it is useful for them and who's the owner".
