Meeting ESG Compliance in Food Production with Agtech

Food production is facing a multitude of global challenges that demand immediate attention and innovative solutions. As the world’s population continues to grow, resources become increasingly scarce, and environmental concerns intensify, the need for sustainable and resilient food production practices becomes paramount.  

The importance for companies to show their environmental, social, and governance impacts (ESG) has become a regulatory practice, and the EU is leading the shift with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).  

Those will especially impact the food and beverage industry due to its focus on value chain accountability and a huge share of Scope 3 GHG emissions that include emissions of farmers in their supply chain.  

Under the CSRD, companies will be held accountable for the social and environmental impacts resulting in activities throughout their supply chain and will be required to report on metrics such as resource use, GHG emissions, pollution, and working conditions for both upstream and downstream activities, wherever they may be in the world. Agriculture practices within the food production value chain need an immediate change in order to strive towards more sustainable food production, conservation of resources, and ultimately alignment with ESG principles. 

Environmental and social criteria addressing agriculture production value chain

This is why corporate strategies of food and beverage companies need to align as soon as possible with the challenges faced by the agricultural sector and the regulatory standards set forth by ESG principles. That involves adopting sustainable agricultural practices, optimizing resource usage, and supporting regenerative practices. It also requires prioritizing biodiversity conservation, reducing chemical inputs, and promoting responsible stewardship of natural resources.

Farm Management Software in Service of Sustainability

To support companies in meeting ESG standards and implementing sustainable agricultural practices, the AGRIVI 360 Agriculture Supply Chain platform offers a set of comprehensive farm management solutions. By leveraging this data-driven farm management software, companies in the food and beverage industry can effectively monitor, validate, foster, and report their adherence to ESG standards.  

The three key components of the platform that enable companies to manage sustainable agricultural practices throughout their value chains are: monitoring and validating practices, fostering regenerative agriculture, and facilitating reporting. 

Let’s find out a brief overview of each of the three components. 

• Monitoring and Validating Practices 

AGRIVI FMS enables companies to monitor and track various aspects of their agricultural operations like machinery and fuel usage, mineral fertilizers usage, pesticides and crop protection usage, and irrigation and water usage. Real-time data collection and analysis provide insights into resource usage, crop growth, and environmental impact.  

This monitoring capability helps companies validate their adherence to sustainable practices and ensures compliance with ESG standards thanks to a localized database of authorized crop protection products, localized pest alerts, and transparent insights about authorized maximum pesticide residue levels. 

The collected data can also be sent out to any 3rd party systems or organizations involved in official certification processes like for instance carbon footprint calculation and therefore make AGRIVI FMS usage become an instrumental step of the validation process. 

• Fostering Regenerative Agriculture 

AGRIVI FMS supports companies in adopting regenerative agricultural practices. It offers guidance through its comprehensive stack of tools: Precision ag (9 vegetation indices, VRA, spraying advisor…), Weather and pests’ predictions, and Traceability to accompany the shift towards regenerative practices in daily crop management and operations.  

It also helps through the implementation of more environmentally safe and climate-friendly practices such as soil health management, crop rotation, cover cropping, and low tillage. By fostering regenerative practices, companies can enhance soil fertility, reduce reliance on synthetic inputs, and promote biodiversity conservation. 

• Reporting 

AGRIVI FMS simplifies the analytics and reporting process by generating comprehensive daily insights and their corresponding reports on agricultural practices through its Analytics & Dashboard stack and Reporting stack. The platform compiles data on key performance indicators, including yield analysis, crop analysis, field analysis, farm finance KPIs, input usage and harvest report, water usage, and pesticide application. These reports can be customized to meet specific ESG reporting requirements, ensuring transparency and accountability in communicating sustainability efforts. 

Specific country reports can also be seamlessly generated in a locally compliant format ready to be sent to authorities or regulatory bodies for certification. 

Measurable Impact: Tangible Results Seen on Farms Worldwide

Being at the forefront of supporting agriculture digitalization globally, AGRIVI recognizes the vital role technology plays in empowering farmers to meet food-producing challenges head-on. Over time, through the utilization of AGRIVI’s farm management software, significant improvements have been observed on farms worldwide, yielding tangible results such as: 

These notable advancements underscore the transformative impact that technology-driven solutions can have in enhancing agricultural practices, fostering sustainability, and driving positive outcomes for both farmers and the broader food production industry. 

Our solutions empower businesses to align their corporate strategies with global sustainability goals, optimize resource usage, foster regenerative practices, and provide transparent reporting on their environmental impact. AGRIVI FMS plays a crucial role in enabling companies to meet regulatory standards, improve sustainability practices, and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector.