Monalisa-Elena Ungureanu, Agrii Romania: “Digitalization plays a key role in modernizing the agricultural sector”

In an interview featured in the “Industries to watch in 2024” cover story of the February edition of Business Review Magazine, Monalisa-Elena Ungureanu, CEO of Agrii Romania, provides an in-depth analysis of the agricultural sector’s landscape in 2024. The interview traverses the multifaceted opportunities presented by advanced agricultural technologies and the pressing need for environmental conservation. Ungureanu discusses the necessity for farmers to adapt to climatic variations and to optimize resource management, in light of EU legislation favoring regenerative agriculture.

What are the main opportunities and challenges in agriculture in 2024?

Agriculture in 2024 offers significant opportunities through the adoption of advanced technologies for productive crops and environmental conservation on the one hand but requires farmers to respond to challenges such as climate change and efficient management of production resources at the farm level , on the other hand.

Trends supported by EU legislation for regenerative agriculture prioritize minimal soil disturbance while emphasizing increased soil biodiversity and topsoil regeneration. This approach encompasses various techniques, such as no-till farming, reduced tillage, crop rotation, and many others.

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Even though it is expected to be a more problematic agricultural year, due to the lack of autumn rainfall, the inflection of the plant protection products market, the European-wide withdrawal of active substances, but also the uncertainty in the fertilizer market and uncertainties in the macroeconomic and global context, overall, agriculture has the potential to adapt and continue to produce quality food.

In short, the farmer needs to stay alert, flexible, open minded and innovative.

How does the transition to a more digitised agriculture influence the agricultural sector? 

Digitalization plays a key role in modernizing the agricultural sector, bringing a range of benefits including improved efficiency, optimized resources and increased on-farm yields.  The use of digital solutions in agriculture is expected to increase, especially in basic solutions that are easy to implement and affordable, enabling farmers to define precise quantities of water, pesticides and fertilizers, optimizing production quality and productivity. This behavior is linked to the objective of efficient resource management at farm level, which has become a major priority for farmers in the context of rising production costs, uncertainties about prices for crops and environmental legislation imposed by EU.

Anticipating this transition, Agrii Romania developed a few years ago the Rhiza digital precision farming service, which helps farmers in monitoring crops with the help of satellite images, thus reducing farmers’ field trips and helping them to identify, in due time,  areas with crop development problems for a quick intervention as well as a resource planning related to the crops in the farm (variable rate sowing, rational application of fertilizers and plant protection products).

How do you think the prices of agricultural products will evolve in the context of geopolitical uncertainty and still high inflation?

Looking at the market lately, prices have been on a downward trend in recent months, but this does not preclude the possibility of future price increases or volatility at European level for some crops: the most likely are maize, barley, wheat and soya. This upward price trend could be largely linked to geopolitical movements or the dithering of ongoing geopolitical conflicts, combined with a possible contraction of production in other geographies. 

Crop establishment costs remain quite high, in the context of inflation both in the value of inputs (direct costs) and indirect costs (labor costs, interest rates on loans, transport) therefore, I believe that careful management of resources, rational investment in technology, use of varieties and hybrids that perform under drought conditions and  using insurance for their crops, are key elements in addressing the challenges posed by uncertainties in agriculture such as climate change, geopolitical risks and high inflation.