Machinery has been identified as the largest agriculture sector globally in terms of sales, employment and number of companies, a new report reveals
The report produced by UK Agri-Food & Drink (UKAFD) Limited, first of its kind and projected as an annual index for global agri-technology, is designed to provide businesses in the sector with a complete overview of the agri-technology industry which will help them to identify current and future domestic and international trends and opportunities.
The agricultural machinery sector is becoming more important with growing concerns over future food security. New technologies can help improve yields, planting, harvesting, milking and in post-harvest technologies through reducing waste, the report suggested.
These sub-sectors include agri-engineering, animal breeding, animal health and welfare, animal nutrition, aquaculture, education and training, environment and sensor technologies, infrastructure and logistics, livestock management, machinery, plant breeding, plant health, plant nutrition, post-harvest technology, R&D, soil and crop production and water management.
Farmers and agricultural companies are reportedly investing more across the globe in new agri machinery to stay up to date and achieve better returns.
UKAFD has been working with kMatrix, market intelligence providers, and using their ‘profiling’ method of data collection to collate the most up-to-date figures for the global agri-technology industry.
Ben Salisbury, director of UKAFD, said, “The agri-technology sector has always been a difficult one for governments and researchers to segment and measure; it overlaps so much with other industries that it is often measured at either end of the supply chain — primary produce and food and drink production.
“But by using kMatrix’s profiling system and global data sources we’ve been able to break it down, into 18 main sub-sectors, to cover the sector fully.”
