By The total value of the Agtech market (Agricultural Technology) is expected to reach $22.5 billion by 2025; rising from $9 billion in 2020.
This represents an average annual growth rate of 150% over the next five years. The Agtech market is comprised of services such as agricultural sensors for crop management, GPS field mapping, and supply chain management, with the ultimate goal of increasing yields and reducing costs through connectivity and data insight.
A new study from Juniper Research, Agtech: Market Outlook, Emerging Opportunities & Forecasts 2020-2025, identified agricultural sensors and supply chain management as key revenue-generating services over the next five years. These two services are anticipated to account for 67% of market value by 2025; owing to emerging solutions that enable low-cost data collection and analysis on agriculture operations.
Low-power connectivity solutions are key to future growth by offering affordable options that provide clear return on investment to agricultural stakeholders operating in an industry with tight profit margins. The research predicts that the need to automate data collection processes will drive the number of monitoring sensors to 436 million by 2025; rising from 170 million in 2020. These sensors will enable the monitoring of climate, hydration and soil pH levels, to minimise operational inefficiencies.
Microfarming is the process of utilising small geographical areas for agriculture and often leverages connectivity technologies to monitor and manage small-scale crop production. The report predicts that microfarming services will exceed $6.7 billion by 2025; growing from $2.7 billion in 2020; driven by the development of innovative agtech services, such as vertical farming and automated crop management.
Research co-author Sam Barker remarked, ‘By 2025, 75% of microfarming’s market value will be attributable to platform spend. We suggest Agtech platforms focus on automation software as a key differentiation point to attract high-spending Agtech users.’
Catherine Ashine, Nairobi
