The agribusiness professional profile for 2021

Agribusiness is a market that does not stop growing in Brazil. Even with the economic adversities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector was one of the only ones that had positive results in 2020 GDP. Among the secrets to success is the agribusiness professional who, with the support of technologies for the sector, has been able to constantly increase productivity and efficiency in the field.

Today, 84% of Brazilian farmers use at least one technology as a tool to support their work, according to research by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa) in partnership with the Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises (Sebrae) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). And the prospect is that the number will grow more and more.

With innovative software and hardware that optimise from planning to analysis of field operations, the digital transformation is consolidating. And with it comes the demand for a new profile of the agribusiness professional: if it were previously enough to have knowledge about agronomy, meteorology and logistics then today, understanding information technology and digital tools are already prerequisites.

"Traditional production techniques and the vast tacit knowledge of producers will continue to occupy a central role in the processes, but the new digital reality requires professionals in the area to be open and prepared to connect with the changes that happen in agribusiness and in the world, in the continuous search for improvement in results," comments Bernardo de Castro, president of Hexagon's Agriculture division, a company that provides digital solutions for the field.

Characteristics such as a technical and analytical look, capable of interpreting the data presented by the new technological solutions and making decisions in an agile and precise manner, become essential. "The knowledge about the application of technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence and Big Data will no longer be differential and will become a necessity for those who want to stay ahead of field operations", reinforces Bernardo.

To complete the profile of the agribusiness professional, there are also engineers, computer and data scientists, developers and researchers. It is they who contribute to the creation and dissemination of these technologies used by teams in the field and by business managers, allowing to increase the efficiency of the sector. Control and automation engineers, aerospace and mechatronics, for example, have a growing role in agribusiness productivity with their collaborations for agricultural automation and precision agriculture.

Whether in the future or in the present, it is the concern with innovation that marks the new profile of the agribusiness professional and that allows this market, so historically important for the country, to maintain its growth even in the midst of adversity.