This workshop presentation will share for the first time research findings from a survey of 150 BC tree fruit growers about their use of and interest in agricultural technology. The survey took place during the summer 2019 in both English and Punjabi to ensure the findings are representative of the BC Tree Fruit grower community. The study was funded by the BC Tree Fruit Competitiveness Program and executed by the BC Fruit Growers Association together with researchers from the Okanagan College supported by students at UBC Okanagan. The research findings provide a clear picture of how our BC Tree Fruit Industry requirements for spray records and water management, also the use of smartphones and internet access are shaping our agricultural practices. The ATAR model is used to map technology readiness against the different stages of awareness and adoption. This enables the researchers to benchmark the BC Tree Fruit Industry’s ability to adopt solutions and technology innovations for producing high quality fruit under tomorrow’s climate conditions. A discussion is sought of how to best expand on our existing readiness for technology and prioritize our training needs.

1. Lee Cartier, P.Ag. and Svan Lembke, Ph.D.
Okanagan College
School of Business

2. Funding for this research project was provided by the BC Innovation Fund
and by the BC Government’s Tree Fruit Competitiveness Fund; delivered by
the BC Fruit Growers’ Association and the Investment Agriculture
Foundation of BC.
The authors also wish to acknowledge the research support provided by
staff of the British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association and student
research assistants: Nnedak Efretuei, Gurvir Khakh, and Arpan Sahsi.
The Government of British Columbia is committed to working with industry
partners. Opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and
not necessarily those of the Government of British Columbia, the BC Fruit
Gowers’ Assoc. or the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.
Acknowledgements
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

3. • A survey of BC Tree Fruit growers identifies a gap between
present grower practices and global best practices
• Global best practices include mechanical and digital solutions
(Precision Agriculture) that enable farmers to
• Grow more efficiently and with better quality, and
• Adapt to climate change (weather, pest and water challenges)
• Underlying causes for this gap were found and an action plan
proposed
Executive Summary
Doing nothing is not an option
without risking the survival of the industry
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

4. • Research Objectives:
• What production and information technology is available and suitable for the
Tree Fruit industry in BC?
• What is currently used by producers and what are the barriers of adopting
more?
• Focus Group with 14 growers to confirm design of questions
• 40 survey questions answered by 156 growers (selected at random
from the industry database at the BCFGA) in Punjabi or English
Methodology: What did we want to learn?
95% confidence level of representative findings
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

5. What is Precision Agriculture (PA) and
why is PA important to the BC Tree Fruit Industry?
Conventional
Agricultural
Activities
Performance
Agriculture
GHG Emissions
Climate Change
Reinforcing Loop
10% of Canada’s GHG
Emissions
Balancing Loop
Too much or too little water
Too much or too little spray
Pests spreading
Weather damage
Decision support systems
Remote sensors
Smart sprayers
Smart irrigation
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

6. Technology Adoption Life Cycle – Where are we?
Adapted from Moore (2014)
3% 14% 34% 34% 15%
Chasm
Innovators
Early
Adopters
Early
Majority
Late
Majority
Laggards
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

7. Grower Profile: How educated are our growers?
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 7
8.7
45.6
4.7
11.4
17.4
7.4
2.0 2.7
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
50.0
Less than
high school
High school
graduation
or B.A from
India
Trades
certification
College
diploma
Bachelor's
degree or
university
degree from
India
Master's
degree
Doctorate
degree
Professional
degree
Percent
Highest Level of Education
Education gives confidence and ability to
adopt new technology.

8. Grower Profile: What do our Growers grow?
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 8
Apples Only
45%
Cherries Only
11%
Apples &
Cherries
44%
COMMODITY PRODUCED
Pest and water management is critical to success!
<10 Acres
31%
10 to 20
Acres
32%
>20 Acres
37%
ORCHARD SIZE GROUPS

9. Pest Management: Sprayer effectiveness
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 9
NOT VERY
EFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT
EFFECTIVE VERY
EFFECTIVE
1.3
11.6
87.1
PRECENT
SPRAYER EFFECTIVENESS
?
< 5 years
19%
5-10 years
24%11-20 years
33%
21-39 years
18%
> 40 years
6%
Sprayer Age

10. Pest Management: Record keeping
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 10
I DON'T
KEEP ANY
RECORD
I USE A
WRITTEN
JOURNAL
I KEEP A
DIGITAL
RECORD
1.9%
89.1%
16.7%
PERCENT
SPRAY ACTIVITY RECORD KEEPING
METHOD
Required by Retailers
Yes
45%
No
25%
Don't know
30%
WILLINGNESS TO SHARE SPRAY
INFORMATION

11. Water Management: How do we know when?
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 11
VISUAL
INSPECTION
USE A
WATER
TIMER
USE
SENSORS
AND ADJUST
MANUALLY
USE
SENSORS TO
CONTROL
WATER
SUPPLY
OTHER
81.3
38.7
14.8
2.6
16.8
PERCENT
DECIDE WHEN AND HOW MUCH TO IRRIGATE
What would happen if we
had to pay for water?

12. Barriers to Change
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 14
62.3
16.9
13.6
46.8
61.4
8.5
15.0
53.6
61.0
14.0
5.9
45.6
44.8
41.0
13.3
43.8
EXPENSIVE COMPLICATED NO TRUST OTHER
PERCENT
BARRIERS TO ADOPTION
Smart Sprayers Harvest Robots Remote Sensors Decision Support Systems
How much?

13. • My farm is too small
• I need more information
• I need an economic analysis
• Technology not suitable for this type of farm
• Other reasons cited were specific to each type of technology:
• Happy with existing sprayer;
• Harvest robots damage the fruit;
• Field service provides information about pests and diseases.
Other Barriers Identified by Growers
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

14. Where does this leave us?
Big gap No big incentive and barriers
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

15. What Technology is in use?
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 17
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Phone calls
Send and
receive e-
mail
Online
shopping
Online
banking Monitoring
remote
sensors
Connecting
to a DSS
89.1
29.5
41.9
5.4
22.5
13.2
Percent
How Smartphone is Used
Technology in use today!

16. Who wants to Learn more?
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke 18
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Smart
Sprayers Harvest
robot
technology
Remote
sensor
technology
Decision
Support
Systems
52.9 52.6
61.5
60.0
Percent
Interest in Learning More
This is good!

17. Production Possibilities Frontier:
Conventional Agriculture vs. Precision Agriculture
20
Use of Conventional Agriculture
UseofPrecisionAgriculture
Current State
of the Industry
Current State of
Precision Agriculture
Best Practices
Decrease Use
IncreaseAdoption
Future State of PA
Gap
Growers must decrease use of conventional
practices and increase PA practices
Barriers like cost and time for education
needs to be taken into consideration
Can this be done by growers themselves?Government assistance needed
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke

18. • Strategic Plan led by early adopters & industry leaders
• Multi-year communication and training plan (funding request)
• Economic impact analysis to show how innovations such as smart
irrigation and smart spraying benefit the grower
• Technology development that is simple and targeted at smartphone
using growers (pest and water management first)
Action Plan Suggestions
© 2019, Cartier & Lembke
Questions?

19. How can we Leap-Frog the Big Data Revolution
in Agriculture for BC Tree Fruits?
Svan Lembke, Ph.D. and Youry Khmelevsky, Ph.D.
Okanagan College
School of Business

20. Funding for this research project was provided by the BC Innovation
Fund and by the BC Government’s Tree Fruit Competitiveness Fund;
delivered by the BC Fruit Growers’ Association and the Investment
Agriculture Foundation of BC.
The Government of British Columbia is committed to working with
industry partners. Opinions expressed in this document are those of the
authors and not necessarily those of the Government of British
Columbia, the BC Fruit Gowers’ Assoc. or the Investment Agriculture
Foundation of BC.
Acknowledgements
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

21. • The data revolution is happening with or without us. We are starting
at a disadvantage and there is a risk of only playing catch up.
• Technology can offer solutions
• We need to build capacity at the grower level:
• Growers don’t need to become technology experts but need to be engaged
• We have to pool our resources across the industry cluster to maximum effect
• Collective action is urgently needed to leap-frog the data revolution
• Without clear leadership the cost and time required for the industry
to evolve cannot not be mobilised
Executive Summary
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

22. • Research Objectives:
• What information is presently collected and shared by industry stakeholders?
• What are the barriers to collecting and sharing this information?
• How can the collection and sharing of available information be optimized within one
integrated industry architecture of data storage and supporting processes?
• Focus Group with industry stakeholders to confirm design of questions
• In depth interviews with growers, government experts, trade associations
and supporting industry (eg packing house, suppliers, consultants)
Methodology: What do we want to learn?
Interviews are still in progress!
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

23. 3% 14% 34% 34% 15%
Chasm
Innovators
Early
Adopters
Early
Majority
Late
Majority
Laggards
BC Tree Fruit Technology Adoption Life Cycle
Adapted from Moore (2014)
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

24. Is there a Way to Leap-Frog the Process?
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

25. Are Crop Management Software Solutions
the best Solution for us?
For small and big farms
Great analytics and
predictive models
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

26. Remember the Education levels & Implications?
31
8.7
45.6
4.7
11.4
17.4
7.4
2.0 2.7
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
50.0
Less than
high school
High school
graduation
or B.A from
India
Trades
certification
College
diploma
Bachelor's
degree or
university
degree from
India
Master's
degree
Doctorate
degree
Professional
degree
Percent
Highest Level of Education
Education gives confidence and ability to
adopt new technology.
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

27. Together we are strong:
The BC Tree Fruit Industry Cluster
Research
Facilities
Government
Experts
Trade
Associations
Consultants
Superior analytical
knowledge
Facilitators
Unified community
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

28. What does a Data Revolution require:
The Knowledge Pyramid
(Janssen et al, 2017)
Develop capabilities to
analyse & share information
Build a raw data repository
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

29. What do we Have, Share & where are the Gaps?
Information Topic
Information Level
Geography,
trees,
weather,
water
Spray, pest,
production,
Market,
sales
Level 4: Long-term decision making
Level 3: Predictions for prevention
& optimization
Level 2: Historical data for diagnosis
& analysis
Level 1: Real time raw data capture
Gaps, Quality issues & Duplication
Integration challenges
Distribution challenges
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

30. An Integrated Architecture for the Industry
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky
Mobile devices
&
Sensors
Not easy –
but possible!

31. Requirements: Smartphone, Sensors & Training
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Phone calls
Send and
receive e-
mail
Online
shopping
Online
banking Monitoring
remote
sensors
Connecting
to a DSS
89.1
29.5
41.9
5.4
22.5
13.2
Percent
How Smartphone is Used
Bridging a ‘relatively’
small gap!
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky

32. What are the Barriers to the Leap-Frog Movement?
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky
The Coop will keep us
safe! The government
will bail us out!
My sprayer works
perfectly well.
Looking at the dirt is good
enough for water management.
How can we ignite a sense of urgency?

33. Conclusion: Together we are strong
Research
Facilities
Government
Experts
Trade
Associations
Consultants
There is great
knowledge &
technology
Time, money
& advice
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky
Record & adapt sensors
Leadership from
within the community

34. • There is a solution and it is achievable:
• Industry Expertise & Technology
• Education and Training Programs
• Funding
• Primarily we need a change in perception of what is possible
• We need to engage with farmers in a meaningful way and win them
over
• We need to find the Early Adopters and Change Makers and they
need to be committed to take on a leadership role
Conclusion: Call for Action to Leap-Frog
© 2019, Lembke & Khmelevsky
Questions?

35. THANK YOU!