IoT & Agriculture

IoT has already disrupted any number of industries and agriculture is no exception, which is great news, because according to the United Nations, the global population is expected to increase from 7.7 million today to nearly 10 billion in 2050. In order to meet the needs of the growing population, experts predict food production will have to increase by at least 70%. And all this is happening at a time where we face extreme weather changes, decreasing availability of natural resources such as water, and a reduction in arable land. In a nutshell, farmers are facing unprecedented challenges. And this is where IoT can be of vital use.

IoT technologies allow farmers to remotely monitor farm and livestock conditions and infrastructure, which frees up time and makes better use of manpower, while also reducing waste and increasing productivity, which in turn helps cuts costs. Additionally, smart agriculture supports sustainable farming practices and reduces the environmental footprint through not just minimized or site-specific application of fertilizers and pesticides, but also by monitoring the entire food value chain in order to reduce waste.

Smart Agriculture

From the domestication of animals thousands of years ago to the use of crop rotation and other improvements, agriculture has gone through many revolutions. Now agriculture is going through another revolution: IoT technologies are enabling smart farming and transforming the entire industry, making it easier to harvest at the right time and in the right quantities. From livestock to crops, new technologies are becoming an intrinsic part of a farmer’s working day, resulting in more and better agricultural products, which is very welcome news in a world where there will be more mouths to feed and less resources with which to do so.

Smart agriculture – or smart farming – involves the integration of IoT technologies into already existing farming practices. Data collected by smart agriculture sensors can be used to track the state of the business in general, as well as track everything from livestock health and equipment efficiency to staff performance. In other words, just about every aspect of farming can benefit, including planting and irrigation, crop health, harvesting, and the reduction of heavy labor and mundane tasks. In fact, smart farming improves the agriculture industry across the entire supply chain by helping farmers close the supply demand gap while also ensuring higher yields, improved use of resources and manpower, increased profitability, and a reduced environmental footprint. The ability to foresee the output of production allows management to better plan for product distribution, as well as streamline operations and identify trends and patterns.

The loss of a third of the world’s arable land at the same time global demand for food soars will have potentially disastrous consequences.

How IoT optimizes farming

Data from connected devices allow farmers to get deep insights into crop and cattle management, weather conditions, soil quality, staff performance, etc., and all of this data will help management form a cohesive picture of what is happening on their farm.

• What is working and what needs improvement?
• How are resources being allocated and are they being allocated in the best way?
• How is the health of your livestock?
• Are fields being properly irrigated and do you really need to use that much
  chemical fertilizer?
• Which equipment is in need of service before it malfunctions and not after?

Cost Management & waste reduction

IoT reduces operating costs and production risks by helping you accurately estimate yield volumes in each harvest field. By doing this you will be able to build smarter distribution strategies and predict potential revenue streams. In other words, proper control and crop oversight helps minimize the chance of crop overproduction, thereby reducing wastage. The ability to predict gaps in crop growth and even livestock health helps mitigate yield risks.

Patterns & trends

By gaining insights into all crops across all fields during the entire growing season, a farm manager will eventually be able to use all the gathered data to determine which risks or natural conditions will likely make a repeat appearance next year. By analyzing the yield and other factors by crop type, farmers can predict which will be most lucrative in the years to come. Additionally, monitoring soil conditions and weather patterns also allow trends and patterns to emerge, contributing valuable input to decision-making.

Digital tools give farmers deeper insights into the state of their fields, allowing them to make better informed decisions.

Increased efficiency

Enhancing farming operations with IoT technologies helps to manage the entire production process, while at the same time ensuring better crop quality through automation techniques. Utilizing smart devices allows site managers to automate multiple farm operations, including irrigation, fertilization, and pest control. That means better use of resources, such as water, and less use of chemicals, which can severely damage soil quality over time.

Precision farming

Precision farming – aka precision agriculture – is anything that makes farming more controlled and accurate when it comes to livestock and crops. Technology advances allow both small and large-scale farmers to gather more precise data through the use of sensors, drones, droids, robots, and so on. The key component to it all is connectivity, which allows farmers to collect data on everything from soil conditions and weather to if a cow is about to give birth or if a vital piece of farming equipment is about to break down.

Here’s what that means in practice:

Improved monitoring

Digital tools give farmers deeper insights into the state of their fields, allowing them to make better informed decisions. Connected devices mean the farmer can continuously monitor a wide range of metrics, including rainfall levels, the number and nature of nutrients a crop needs to grow at peak level, soil samples, and fertilizer inputs.

Enhanced decision-making capabilities

Sensors deployed in fields give farmers access to real-time data, allowing them to recognize patterns, which in turn enables them to distinguish patterns that allow them to predict changes, potential risks, and expected yields, both during the growing season and at harvest time.

Reduced chemical reliance

The excessive use of chemicals is a major cause of soil erosion, but many farmers continue to use harmful fertilizers in order to protect crops from insects. The use of chemical fertilizers is not only bad for the environment, it is also expensive. Monitoring soil and crop conditions with sensors allows the famer to only administer chemicals when needed.

Water & irrigation management

According to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), agriculture accounts for more than 70% of water usage across the globe. When combined with the ongoing shortages of drinking water, careful distribution of this precious resource is vital. Connected fields provide precise data on when a particular field need irrigation by measuring the water saturation in the soil. The result is crops are actually better-managed, as are water resources.

Agriculture accounts for more than 70% of global water usage

Internal processes

IoT monitoring technologies allow site managers to update farmers on the state of any particular field in real time, tracking performance and gaining insights into how to best manage challenges, from mold to infestation to drought.

Technologies

Through the use of IoT-enabled technologies, farmers can utilize enhanced data and analysis while also monitoring crops and getting a 360° view of their farm and everything within it.

Sensors

IoT sensors can detect and monitor a wide range of factors that can impact the farm, including fields, infrastructure, machinery, and livestock. This can all be done in real time, so if you want to know where your herd of cattle has gone, you only have to check the sensors around their necks. And if you want to know which field is not getting enough moisture, just check the data coming in. And once a crop stops growing, sensors indicate their health and calculate their vegetation index (a spectral calculation of two or more bands of light that highlights vegetative properties and allows for comparisons of the photosynthetic activity across your field).

Robots, drones & droids

Autonomous and semi-autonomous robotics have already been developed for farming purposes, including mechanical weeding, fertilizer applicators, and harvesters, reducing the need for manpower at a time when labor is dwindling. Connected unmanned aerial and ground vehicles (drones and droids) fitted with hyperspectral and multispectral sensors and snapshot cameras can be used for assessment of crop health, crop monitoring, planting, and drop spraying. They can also measure water stress levels and monitor changing weather patterns, contributing to risk reduction and disaster management.

Smart greenhouses

Traditionally, micro-climate and agronomic parameters have been recorded in a manual and often inconsistent way.

There was a limit on what could be measured, and practices were often pre-defined and speculative. In a smart greenhouse, IoT-enabled ‘weather stations’ automatically adjust climate conditions according to a particular set of parameters. This reduces or eliminates human intervention, which both reduces costs and increases efficiencies and accuracy. Additionally, solar-powered IoT sensors collect and transmit real-time data, which helps monitor so-called weather changes (heat, humidity, air pressure, light levels, etc.) throughout the day, as well as changing conditions such as doors opening and closing or creeping infestation – and these can be addressed before they can influence or threaten crops.

The Climate

We can’t talk about agriculture without talking about the climate. It is changing and these changes are bringing more extreme weather conditions, whether that is hotter or colder seasons, wild temperature fluctuations within a short period of time, increased or decreased precipitation, increased storm severity and occurrence – all of these factors make smart farming even more critical to your business. Having improper knowledge about conditions both in real-time and over time means a deterioration in crop quantity and quality. Sensors will monitor the condition of your crops, but perhaps even more importantly, they will monitor weather conditions – and send you an alert when anything disturbing is detected. The end result is no longer needing someone physically on site – instead, your data will help you keep an eye on things, allowing you to use physical resources elsewhere. This helps save money and even more importantly, save lives.

The global population is expected to increase from 7.7 million today to nearly 10 billion in 2050

IoT-enabled agriculture marries modern technology with time-tested knowledge and experience, bridging the gap between production, quality, and quantity. Data provides critical information into any number of processes, allowing farmers to gain real time insights and long-term perspective, which means they can respond to an emergency, but also understand historical trends and patterns and thus better plan for the future. As a result, production processes improve, there is far less waste, and the world’s growing population can be fed.

If you would like to learn more, please get in touch.