Recapping the Year in Agriculture: Major Developments and Tech Hotspots, and Trends to Watch for 2016

In this report, we review key agricultural innovation trends of 2015 and explore some of the major pending changes to watch for 2016 and the years to come. In 2015, the agriculture industry saw major changes, including: a round of approvals for modified crops developed using RNA interference; increased ability to use UAVs in agriculture, including for spray applications and for use beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS); and data and analysis moved into a more dominant position as a major part of agricultural technology. Looking ahead to 2016 and the years to come, we anticipate that: genome editing technologies will become the method of choice for crop improvement; large corporations will continue to invest in vertical farming in Japan, creating a new leader in the global protected agriculture industry; and consolidation and M&A activities among major agriculture companies will shake up historic dynamics in the industry; the acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina will have particularly meaningful impacts on China’s agricultural regulatory situation.