The agricultural sector is transforming to the rhythm of technological innovations. The appearance of new companies in the so-called AgTech industry (agro & technology) aims to "connect" producers with the complex system that their products go through.No longer surprising the fields that "communicate by WhatsApp", the real-time logistic networks that rely on blockchain or the "cows that speak", in the sense of all the information that is extracted thanks to the use of next generation devices .Several of these solutions are already in operation. Most focus on livestock and harvest and pre-harvest periods for agricultural products.However, the world of grains (especially the post-harvest one) functions as a separate ecosystem, with important results but, at the same time, great losses and lack of technology."With the growing demand and the need for global meals, we must be more efficient, feed more people and have a better distribution," says Martin Cordasco, CEO and co-founder of Wiagro, to iProUP.Together with its partners, Ulises Mickelsen and Santiago Badran, they created a tool to conquer the agricultural world: an intelligent silobag meter.Specifically, they developed a sensor that:- It is installed in the pockets and - via satellite - sends data to an app (also its own) in real time.- This allows a permanent monitoring of key information, such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and ph3 (phosphine) in large grain and grain pockets- It has a movement control in order to detect if any suspicious activity is recorded (each unit catalogs the silobolsa with its own name in order to differentiate them from each other)- The producer can communicate by whatsapp with the bag of grains to know the status. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), the bot that is behind the platform can solve any concern."You can chat with the silobolsa, because the idea is that if there is a problem, you can ask," adds Cordasco.The following image illustrates a "conversation" by whatsapp:The business model is based on income derived from the maintenance of the service, US $ 15 per month, and an activation amount of US $ 100 per sensor. As a final goal, the company seeks to digitize the grain system globally."The post-harvest process is as important as the others, since the grains have to remain intact, if they suffer any kind of mishap they can no longer be used, food, time and an important commercial value are wasted".To start working, Wiagro had an initial investment of $ 500,000. This year it will start distributing its sensors in Latin America and the rest of the world, which opens the door to a potential value of the signature of US $ 200 million in no more than five years.In the same way, it wants to develop a smaller, flexible, resistant and economic sensor (estimate that it will leave 1 dollar), by 2025."There is a very large global scalability, the idea is to put the products on Amazon and that any producer in the world can buy the sensor and digitize their bags," says the CEO.Invest in blockchainBlockchain is the fashion technology. Although it advances in different industries (such as finance), the truth is that the field and everything that surrounds it can take a huge profit from this system. Wiagro saw this potential and is migrating all of its services to this standard."All the data that is uploaded to the cloud will be validated by blockchain", explains Cordasco. But he is not the only one in his field who immerses himself in digitization. IBM joined the company Agree Market, a startup that proposes an online marketing platform for agricultural commodities.The project, created from scratch and with 100% national impulse, has the ambitious goal: to make more efficient the purchase, negotiation and sale of products through a mobile or PC.With the aim of ensuring the immutability of the negotiations and the contracts that are celebrated within the service, progress was made in the implementation of blockchain."We saw that there was a big opportunity in food marketing, that we could make it more effective by digitizing processes with an online platform," says iProUP Nicolas Mayer-Wolf, co-founder of Agree Market.For the entrepreneur, technology not only generates more "dynamism, transparency and information" in the commodity trade, but also adds a central component: traceability.In his vision, it is "a tool that allows us to know which counterparty to operate with and which does not, improving the portion of credit risks".In this sense, adding the blockchain to the equation was the logical step, since in addition to the mentioned security, it avoids physical documentation and digital or manual signatures, a modus operandi very recurrent in the field. "In what are contracts and business records, ensures that nothing can be changed," he adds.The final goal of both companies (and of many others in the sector) is to digitize the field. "There are many players behind these developments, but we want to be part of the chain, a link that captures data and gives them the courage to revolutionize the harvest," adds Wiagro CEO.Talking cows, smart insurance and other issues"When we talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovation in agricultural issues, we frame it as one of the central pillars of the fourth industrial revolution," he says in dialogue with iProUP, Ezequiel Glinsky, CTO and New Business Director of Microsoft Argentina.Why is the sector talked about as a favorable canvas for innovation? Glinksy has the answer: "The AI ââconsists of three parts: power of computation, data and algorithms.The agro, by its size and the level of data it generates, lends itself to be a space in which it takes great advantage ""When you look at the next 10, 20 or 30 years, achieving this type of innovation will be a central component for development," he explains.In this framework, the Redmond firm pays special attention to what happens on local soil. This year, it signed an agreement with INTA, which uses its technological solutions to prevent plant diseases and even to "connect" cows.Expanding the view to other areas, Paraná Seguros is another partner of the company that has embraced modernization, based on an alarm system called Tero Granizo.It consists of an app that complements traditional agricultural insurance with data processing, sharing georeferenced weather information about the insured fields in real time.It can even warn producers three hours earlier of strong storms and probable hail loss. If the accident actually occurs, two hours later, you receive a new email where the probable area of ââdamage is marked on the map.The list of examples of technological innovations follows.Tambero is another application aimed at the management of cattle, fattening, dairy farms and agriculture. It already has more than 200,000 users worldwide and incorporates artificial intelligence from Microsoft to make "talk to the cows".That is, through natural language you can dialogue with the platform, which takes collected information (dates of vaccination, historical production of milk and disease history, among many other items), and delivers answers on dates of estrus or averages of milk production and a lot of key information.In the field of the Internet of Things (IoT), novelties also proliferate.Glinsky cites the case of San Miguel, the largest exporter of citrus fruits in the southern hemisphere, which advanced in the sensorization of drawers to have greater control over the merchandise that was shipped and which will be delivered, in addition to improving the supply routes to enhance the associated logistics.If the field is technified, everyone winsCurrently, 2,600 million grains are produced every year worldwide. However, 2.5% is wasted in post-harvest, which implies losses of US $ 12 billion. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), grain production will increase 38% by 2030.By 2050, the world population of the current 7.6 billion people is expected to increase to 9.8 billion. Food production will have to increase to maintain this growth rate, says the FAO.With this number in mind, from Wiagro they want to introduce the concept "sensor density". What does it mean? It is the quantity of sensors required by the volume of grains. The company estimates that in order to digitize and map 100% of global grains, one sensor per hundred tons must be used.Therefore, the focus of the company is on the triple impact where, if they win, the entire ecosystem does: "There is a social, environmental and economic impact, where more than 60 million people could be fed. directly or indirectly-, the level of deforestation would be lowered (there is a more efficient use of the land) and a greater percentage of the grains that are wasted today are sold ".However, there is a long way ahead that demands technology, raise awareness and bring solutions closer to producers: "If we rescue 50% of what is lost we can feed 80 million more people," concludes the CEO of WiagroFor his part, Nicolas Saco, Manager of Ecosystem of IBM Argentina, argues that agro-industry is one of the businesses that has greater capacity for transformation: "In recent decades, many new technologies were incorporated that generated a productive revolution, but all that It is not being capitalized, for this reason, we consider it one of the industry focus to support in what is digital transformation ".In an ecosystem still reigned by ancient techniques such as paper registration and rudimentary traditional tools, digital platforms are positioned as a more than necessary alternative to transform agricultural businesses and improve living conditions globally.