7^th National Congress and 2019 Philippine Agriculturists' Summit

The concept of "industry 4.0" was put forward by the German government in 2013. This concept that gained wide international attention defined the important role of information technology in the industrialization process. Two years later, the "agriculture 4.0" that was described as a modern agricultural form supported by internet of things (IoT), big data, drones. robotics, solar cells, mobile internet and cloud computing became a hot subject of discussion.

A report launched by the World Government Summit in 2018 referred to "Agriculture 4.0 as The Future Of Farming Technology. It is the way to meet the challenges from the increasing pressure on agriculture namely, demographics, scarcity of natural resources, climate change and food waste to meeting the demands of the future. For the Philippines for instance, the national food requirement based on the current population of 106M and projected population of 148M in 2050 will increase by 40%. But still, 59.2M will go hungry. This means that the increasing demand for bigger yields and higher environmental protection will put more pressure on the agricultural sector to "produce more with less.

With Agriculture 4.0, farmers will have to work with smaller amounts of inputs and target very specific areas. The farms and agricultural operations will have to be run very efficiently with the use of advanced technologies such as sensors, devices, machines, and information technology. The future sophisticated agriculture technologies that will be used will include robots, temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images, and GPS technology. These advanced devices with precision agriculture and robotic systems will allow farms to be more profitable, efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly.

Meeting these challenges however will require the concerted efforts by governments, investors, and innovative agricultural technologies. Governments can play a key role in solving the food scarcity issue by taking a broader and more prominent role than their traditional regulatory and facilitating function. The biggest challenge however in the agriculture and farming sector is to actually take the step to invest in new digital technologies. From a short-term perspective, this is associated with high costs for farmers. In the long term, however, it can increase yields and protect the environment significantly.

This event will bring together academics, farmers, organizations, government, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts from around Philippines and the ASEAN region. This will feature presentations, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, and will be an important occasion for all the stakeholders to meet, explore recent developments and future prospects in the digitization of agriculture. The focus is on discussing the role of AG 4.0 in defining the future of Philippine Agriculture.