State of Food and Agriculture Report 2022 [Latest Report]

The State of Food and Agriculture Report was recently released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). This is an important topic for the IAS exam economy and agriculture segments. In this article, you can read all about the latest State of Food and Agriculture report for UPSC.

State of Food and Agriculture Report 2022

It is a flagship project of FAO that is released every year. The latest report highlights that the lack of access to automation for small and marginal farmers can lead to the widening of inequalities in society. It is one of FAO’s most important reports and it aims at bringing to a wider audience balanced science-based assessments of important issues in the field of food and agriculture.

Other reports published by the FAO: 

• The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO)
• The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA)
• The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO)
• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI)

State of Food and Agriculture Report 2022 Highlights

The report tracks the number of tractors per 1000 hectares of arable land. The 2022 report talks about agriculture automation.

• The report found that the penetration of tractors is high in European and American countries but it is very low in middle and low-income countries. 
• It also suggested that only 10 out of 27 services provided in the field of agricultural automation stand to make a profit. Additionally, these 10 service providers are from high-income countries.
• The report also highlighted that there is vast inequality within countries in terms of technology adoption. Certain regions have a high rate of technology adoption in comparison to other regions. 

What is agriculture automation?

• Agriculture Automation refers to the application of technology in the process of production of crops. 
• It can play a very important role in reducing the cost of input and enhancing the income of the farmers. 
• Automation in agriculture includes a wide variety of technologies like harvesters, micro-irrigation techniques, use of advanced technologies like drones, etc. 
• With the help of technology, the farmer can get advanced information about the quality of soil, weather conditions, the kind of crops that are supported by the soil and the possibility of crop destruction due to bad weather conditions. 
• All the factors would help the farmers in hedging the risk that may arise because of climatic factors. 

State of Food and Agriculture Report 2022 Recommendations

Some of the key recommendations made by the report are as follows.

• Policymakers should avoid rapid automation of agriculture in the labour-intensive sector. This is because rapid automation would reduce the demand for agricultural labourers, resulting in mass unemployment. 
• Additionally, it advocates creating an enabling environment under which the policy of automation can be pushed efficiently without major disruption. 
• It also calls for providing social protection to the least skilled workers so as to enable them to remain employed during the stress period.
• Automation should take place in such a way that it promotes inclusivity and sustainability instead of being discriminatory and exclusive.

State of Food and Agriculture Report 2022:- Download PDF Here