I believe that creating sustainable and affordable solutions that can scale is instrumental for growth opportunities, especially in those scenarios where a solution has historically been beyond reach for a particular population. These types of solutions can help us solve the big social problems of the next generation. One particular big problem that fascinates me is the future of food.
The current statistics tell us a concerning story: by 2050 there will be between nine and eleven billion people on the planet. Given that about half of the calories consumed by humans come from plants, what will all these people eat? Can the farmers of the world produce enough food to feed twice the number of people as they do today? And can modern technology help farmers feed this new population?
Innovations in new agricultural technologies are spawning a new Green Revolution. An integrated network of agriculture technology startups is changing the landscape for the future of agriculture in areas such as seeds, insects, procurement, equipment sharing, farm management, and more. Precision agriculture, with the onset of practical Artificial Intelligence applications, will help expedite this evolution. And the rapid development of the Internet of Things will further help digitize the physical space.
These technologies are actively changing the farm. They are also creating significant opportunities to help the community of farmers achieve their goals. Being slow to the adoption of technology could actually prove to be an asset as digitization of the farm without the concern of legacy technologies could make this a much faster and more seamless transition.
There is no question that this transition is real and that this change will create a meaningful impact in the lives and future of the next generation. I’m looking forward to this change, and to all future breakthrough ideas.
Dr. Julieta Ross 