Open data to boost farming and feed the world

SHARING DATA is the way for farmers and the food industry to find revolutionary news ways to boost farming and feed the world.

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Speaking at the Open Data Institute (ODI) Futures event on agriculture, environment secretary Elizabeth Truss said sharing data could help famers to maximise crop yields, improve quality of produce and feed a population that is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.

 

The food and drink sector is worth £103 billion and employs 1 in 8 people. It is increasingly using complex data, from farmers using GPS to maximise crop yields to laptops which track soil moisture across multiple fields.

 

Defra is leading the way by opening its data vaults. It will release data on the health of cattle, sheep and poultry and the condition of honeybee hives, alongside 3D LIDAR data. Allowing public access to this data could benefit the economy by more than £7 billion a year.