Ausgabe zur AGRITECHNICA 2019

6 Ausg.Nr._20/2019 digital systems Trends in digital systems and IT – challenges for the future D igitisation is increas- ingly on the advance in all areas of agriculture. It is intended to improve work- ing productivity and efficiency, to reduce the work load and to increase profitability. A growing number of sensor-con- trolled, automated processes are now available in agriculture for improving competitiveness, for optimising entire production sys- tems and for increasing work or crop quality. In addition to provid- ing the basis for decision making by both human beings and ma- chines, the so-called "Smart Farm- ing" systems offer the potential for efficient, emission-reducing and resource-conserving agriculture. The farmer as a businessman, meanwhile, is provided with digi- tal support – from data acquisition to information analysis to deci- sion-making and execution. Trends in using digital systems and IT continue to be clearly vis- ible in agriculture, as well as in the upstream and downstream sec- tors. At Agritechnica 2019, more than 70 new and further devel- oped processes and systems in the segments of "Digital Systems and IT" will be exhibited and offered for sale. Any type of technical ad- vancement always involves extra costs. Compared to conventional process technology, additional costs of 15 to 40 percent can be ex- pected for digital and automated systems. With optional extras, an increase of more than 100 percent is even possible. So that these investments pay off in the long term, either performance must be increased and/or the required working time per unit of produc- tion – with consistent quality – de- creased. Otherwise, digitisation is no more than an expensive hobby! In general, the use of automa- tion reduces the time required for production-related activities by up to 30 per cent. The savings in farm inputs also lie in a clearly measurable range. At the same time, the physical load also drops. Less physically straining and mo- notonous activities need to be carried out. However, the physical strain and the time required for farm management increases, and more monitoring must be carried out. Because of this, digitisation should not be viewed as a gen- eral solution for escaping the great amount of work required on many farms. Automation and digitisation are increasingly on the advance in all agricultural production process- es. Before investing in new tech- nologies, all farmers should think about how digitisation, electron- ics and improved farm manage- ment systems can support them in their daily work, increase their working productivity, reduce their workload and improve their added value. If these questions can be answered satisfactorily, then the trend to digitisation can be viewed as a positive one.  Text: DLG Service GmbH Eschborner Landstraße 122 D-60489 Frankfurt am Main