New technology old technology and human labor at a Dole banana plantation

While many sectors of the business world are embracing digital transformation, much of the agricultural sector in many areas is still in the very early stages of using next-generation technology.

Adoption of new technology may be crucial to increasing the food supply and efficiency in the agricultural sector. There are some exceptions in which cutting edge technology is used in agriculture as illustrated in a recent article.

The push forward

Agriculture needs technology that increases productivity and reduces labor. The new technology provides decision support systems, effective farm monitoring, greater output, and improved efficiency in the system. As Dole banana production shows there may be limited introduction of new technology in the production sphere while new technology is introduced in marketing products to help the company reach their customers.

Dole puts a simple sticker on their product: "This sticker has a code and an invitation to visit its website. If a client does that, they will find information about which farm that specific banana came from, a complete “banana journey” from farm to supermarket), and also videos and a 360 degree tour of a banana farm."

The website is filled with videos and helpful recipes and much else.The company uses You Tube extensively to provide information about their production and distribution systems to customers.

Dole is a vertically integrated company. It owns plantations in Central America and a fleet of 19 container ships. They are specially equipped to support refrigerated containers and have their own cranes so that they need not rely on port facilities.

The company has headquarters in Westlake Village California. Dole is the largest fruit and vegetable producer in the world. It has 74,300 full-time and seasonal worker. It markets 300 products in 90 countries.

Blending old and new tech

In growing bananas and preparing them for export the company uses a blend of labor and older technology. Although there is some newer technology used to prevent diseases the use of new technology appears in marketing as mentioned. The company has numerous videos on You Tube as well as its website such as this one on harvesting.

While some of the technology is hardly cutting edge, it works. In this farm even a donkey is used to help haul bananas along a cable to the packing plant. The harvesting is done by human labor and is not mechanized. Protective bags are used to shield the bananas while growing and are recycled and dead leaves are left as nutrients for the soil. Quality control monitoring is all done by humans. Among the many other videos is the one appended that shows bananas going from packing plant to U.S. ports.

Severe drought hits parts of U.S. and Canada

The central regions of the U.S lately have experienced both record heat and lack of moisture. Ten states had rainfall totals among their ten driest over a three month period. In Canada there are also some areas of drought.

In Canada most of the prairies have had normal or even above normal rainfall except for isolated areas such as southeast Manitoba. In Ontario the area west of Ottawa has been dry but southwest parts of Ontario have good growing conditions. In the U.S. the story is much worse with up to 63 per cent of areas having moderate or more severe drought conditions. Along with record heat many crops will suffer. The corn crop in the U.S. will be among those most hurt by the drought conditions.
U.S. farmers planted the most corn in over half a century. In an Aug. 7 report the USDA (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture) reports only 23 per cent of the huge crop is in good condition. Last year at the same time the figure was 60 per cent. The price of corn futures soared but have pulled back slightly after rainfall in some districts.
The price of many processed foods may increase although this may not happen until much later in the year or next year. The price of ethanol too will rise. The U.S. and Canada are not the only countries suffering drought. Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan expect drought conditions to shrink their crop by almost 30% from last year. As a result the price of wheat is rising even though North American crops are generally good.
Soybean crops are suffering in the U.S as well. Crops in good or excellent condition are down 32% from last year but improved conditions could help crops recover. Another area also badly hurt by drought is the livestock sector both in Canada and the U.S.
Just 16% of U.S. pasture and ranch land is in good or excellent condition. Last year at the same time the figure was 39%. In Ontario Canada lack of hay has sent prices soaring to three times normal. Near the capital Ottawa Ontario a rancher is selling off some of his herd of horses.. As livestock producers sell off animals to avoid having to feed them over winter with hay prices high, there will be a temporary glut on the market. This makes the situation worse because producers receive lower prices for their animals. Later on the situation will reverse no doubt.
While food price increase may take some time to work their way through the system, Tim Horton's has already decided to raise the price of some of its baked goods by five cents!

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/330437#ixzz233nTq6jd