To what extent will the role of technology change?

How can technology and innovative cultivation systems contribute to a resilient agricultural system? This was discussed on Wednesday 26 September at the opening of the 'Agroecology and Technology living lab' of Wageningen University & Research (WUR). In any case, it became clear that the role of technology is going to change significantly.

"The ingredients for the ICT-driven revolution to circular agriculture are there," said Johan Osinga, director-general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. This means that technology once again appears to be playing an important role in solving problems in the agricultural sector.

Technology also partly made the agricultural revolution in the 50s possible. It took on a leading role and the natural processes in the sector were pushed back. "The trigger has determined the way we work," said Wijnand Sukkel, researcher at WUR.

Ecology becomes more important
According to researchers, technology will not play a leading role again in the future. "We are moving towards a system in which ecology plays a more important role. How can the technology take ecological processes into account? That is the question that will be asked," says Sukkel. Among other things, the living lab investigates how ecology and technology can jointly provide a solution to the problems in the agricultural sector.

This is apparent from the research into strip cultivation. Monocultures, which are partly the result of the development of various technologies, do not appear to give the highest yields. "Strip cultivation is more productive and is becoming increasingly possible," says Dirk van Apeldoorn, researcher at WUR. "This is due to the fact that edge rows catch more light. The disease pressure of phytophthora is also less present in a strip cultivation system."

Soil compaction
Research into soil compaction shows that ecology and technology can play an important role together. Soil compaction is a problem for 45% of the Dutch agricultural sector and on average results in 10% lower yields. "This while the ecological processes in the soil ensure a more resilient system." In the future, systems with GPS train paths and robots can also contribute to this.

Volkert Engelsman, CEO at Eosta, and Jan-Nico Appelman, deputy of the province of Flevoland, applaud the integrated approach of the living lab. The commissioner did point out that the research must be practice-oriented, because he notices on his own arable farm that theory and practice do not always match.

The financial picture
Appelman believes that the agricultural sector should have diversity and resilience, but it should fit into a large-scale system. This is also what Jaap van Wenum, chairman of LTO Akkerbouw, says. "Ideas such as trees in the country are interesting, but also have to be calculated economically. The shade of trees has always cost me money until now, except this year."

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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