According to our latest market study on “Agritech Market Forecast to 2027 – COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis – by Type (Biotechnology and Biochemicals, Big Data and Analytics, Sensors and Connected Devices, Mobility, and Other Types) and Application (Irrigation, Production and Maintenance, Supply Chain, and Marketplace), the market was valued at US$ 17,442.7 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 41,172.5 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.1% from 2020 to 2027. The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is restraining the growth of the global Agritech market in 2020, and it is likely to continue till early 2021 owing to disruptions in supply chains, decrease in demand and production, and decline in the economic and industrial growth of major regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Hence, there is a decline in y-o-y growth during the year 2020 and 2021. However, the growth is expected to normalize from 2021 onwards, and the market is expected to grow at a steady pace from 2021 to 2027.
North America held the largest share of Agritech Market in 2019
The North America agritech market has been analyzed on the basis of trends prevailing in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Continuous contribution of tech-giants to technological advancements has created a stir in the competitive market across the region. Population in this region is more inclined toward technological developments due to high spending power. The companies in this region are continuously enhancing their overall business processes to efficiently meet the customer demand for high-quality products and services.
The US is a largest market in terms of the deals undertaken in the farm-tech space. In 2019, the country observed an increase of 23% in agritech investments, which totaled US$ 2.25 billion in 2018. The region has experienced various inorganic strategies in agritech business. For instance, Raven Industries and CNH are the precision & equipment companies acquire AgSync, Inc. and AgDNA for boosting precision hardware & digital software platforms. Also, Syngenta continues to focus on agritech by acquiring an agtech company Cropio in September 2019. In 2019, more than half of the world’s merger and acquisition deals included US-based sellers, ~40% of these sellers were digital farm management companies. Such above-mentioned strategic alliances focused on farming are projected to boost the implementation of biotechnology, sensors, and Big Data analytics in the region.
The entry of startups in farming and investment activities for promoting the use of agricultural technologies have increased enormously in the region. In the last few years, venture capitalists have invested US$4 billion in the agritech startups. Other investments in the region are mentioned below:
• Farmers Business Network has raised US$ 250 million in the Series F funding. The company is among the pioneers in e-commerce models assisting farmers to optimize their financial performance.
• iFarm is a Finland-based startup offering technologies that are used in indoor farming to grow fresh berries, greens, and vegetables. The company has gathered US$ 4 million of investments from Gagarin Capital, Matrix Capital, IMI.VC, Impulse VC, and many more investors.
• Berkeley-based Pivot Bio affirmed a funding round of US$ 100 million, supported by Temasek and Breakthrough Energy Ventures to scale up microbial nitrogen technology, which helps improve crop yields.
Key Findings of Study:
In the era of technological advancements, an enormous amount of data is being generated on an everyday basis. Agriculture is anticipated to evolve as a high-tech sector in the coming years, wherein the performance of interconnected systems would be assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data facilities. The resulting systems would converge into a single unit, combining farm machinery and management, starting from seeding to production forecasting. Personnel employing Big Data and analytics must consider concrete and specific characteristics of farming to extract valuable information and take effective decisions accordingly. The AI and Big data technologies uses sensors to record weather conditions, crop efficiency, and soil structure. Both Big Data and AI have a potential to optimize productivity and crop management.
The propagation of sensor-based technology worldwide is boosting the reach of farm management software exponentially. The US and few Asian countries are highly interested in the use of farm management software. Planet Labs, BlackSky Global, Satellogic, and Orbital Insight Inc. are among the players offering farm management software, sensing, and IoT products. Additionally, AgSync, Inc., First Pass Technologies, IntelliFarms, Atlas Team, AgDNA, and The Cropio Group were among the players that have been acquired as a part of merger and acquisition strategies of other key farm tech companies in 2019. Thus, the increasing market potential of Big Data and farm management systems in farming activities is anticipated to provide growth opportunities to the agritech market players in the coming years.