How to feed a world population estimated at 10 billion people in 2025? Technology and innovation appear as key points to answer this question that should permeate agribusiness over the next few years, according to the discussions held on March 11, during the online event “AGROTECH: The future of the industry that feeds the world!". The virtual expert meeting was organized by SAP Brasil in partnership with the WTC São Paulo Business Club, sponsored by Intel Corporation and supported by PLANT. “We have intellectual capital in Brazilian agribusiness that should be a source of pride for all of us. So, when we align all of this potential with capacity, the future is very promising. That is why this industry is so important and so strategic for us at SAP Brazil ”, summarized Adriana Aroulho, president of SAP Brazil. When welcoming the guests, Adriana pointed out that, in addition to agribusiness being one of the main sectors of the Brazilian economy, the country appears in this future scenario with great potential for growth in cultivation and experience to feed the world. “We understand that the future of technology is cloud and SAP is prepared for that, ”he said. The growth of agribusiness in the coming years, to serve a population that increases each year will only be possible, in Adriana's view, with the adoption of sustainable practices. "We have seen that consumers are increasingly willing to invest in health, to pay more, and to demand from their suppliers traceability, sustainable practices and care for the environment," he said. EXAMPLE OF ENERGY In the opening panel of the event, Plínio Nastari, founder and president of Datagro, pointed out that, thanks to the application of technology in various points of the production chains, Brazil has become a great example in food and energy agriculture for the world. And it can bring many new contributions in the future. "When we talk about agribusiness, we talk about Brazil that works, that promotes development, that generates income in a decentralized way and that has a huge contribution in the balance". Nastari also detailed, as an example of transformation, the efforts that Brazil has made over the past few years to reinforce the importance of ethanol on gasoline, including being followed by other countries, such as India, China, Paraguay, Thailand, Belgium, France , Colombia, Bulgaria and the USA. The state of São Paulo, for example, has already replaced about 60% of gasoline consumption with ethanol. "This model adopted in Brazil by agribusiness is capable of solving the two great problems of humanity, global warming and the planet's employment and food crises," said Nastari. In addition, Brazil already stands out with an industrial energy flexibility focused on market opportunities beyond sugar cane, with corn and soybeans, for example. "Ethanol over these 45 years has replaced 3.3 billion barrels of gasoline, which is a very significant number when we consider that Brazil's proven reserves of condensed oil are 12.7 billion barrels," said Nastari.
Presenter Patricia Maldonado, Degobbi, from Coopercitrus, Brocaneli, from Bunge, and Adriana Aroulho, from SAP
AGRO 5.0 The food production chains in Brazil have several companies and many of them are already aware of the future, including with SAP cases. “We entered Agriculture 5.0, with artificial intelligence, deep learning, modeling, robotics and I put sustainability on my own,” said Fernando Degobbi, president of Coopercitrus, a cooperative that uses SAP's integrated solutions, with more than 50,000 geo-referenced properties, at the round table where he debated with Adriana Aroulho and with Bunge's CIO, Fernando Brocaneli. “As a cooperative, we have a very strong participation within the gate. I see that when we leave the property, we have an evolution in the logistics and control processes … But the biggest challenge that I encounter today is to take all this technology and innovation into the gate, "said Degobbi. Coopercitrus has 37 thousand associates and has facilities in 77 cities in Brazil and around 150 business units in different areas of the agribusiness production chain. Bunge is also aware of the efficiency, agility and innovation of agribusiness in the coming years. The multinational commodities and food company adopts management models applied to interconnect regions and integrate markets after an internal decision in 2019, with the aim of accelerating decision making and giving business flexibility. Since then, the company has had a unified business structure in the South American countries in which it is present. With the decision, Bunge initiated operational changes in its market intelligence and in its processes and systems. The company has SAP solutions used globally, but with customization for Brazil, such as those applied in cargo logistics and traceability. “We have the alphabet soup of digital transformation, with blockchain, big data, artificial intelligence and everything, including apps, cloud, and this is all part of this integration of South America and we are already in more global models ”, explained Fernado Brocaneli, CIO of the company. In addition, the agro multinational also remains attentive to talent management, with almost 12,000 professionals in Latin America. "We have our Talent Management, with its global and local roots for everything that involves attracting, maintaining and developing people, and we have a huge diversity program, ”said Brocaneli. “Technology, help, enable, but the transformation comes through people,” said Adriana.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.