Internet of Things or IoT is responsible for most modern evolution and technological advancements taking place in different fields and Agriculture is not an exception. Utilizing proficient methods of managing corps, farmlands, and corps; IoT has initiated a new era of Smart Agriculture that comes with efficiency, improved production, and ingenuity. It also reduced the amount of waste generated from the agricultural fields, securing a safe place for nature to co-exist. Let’s take a better look.
What is Smart Agriculture? Is there a Smart Farm too?
Smart Agriculture is a newly introduced concept that is still alien to most global farmers and agricultural experts. It involves the usage of smart technologies such as sensors, drones, automated machines, actuators, security cameras and many other tools to monitor, operate, and control different agricultural lands and farming units. The goal here is to improve the rate of production exponentially while improving the quality of agricultural goods. Since it is green technology, it can also help to reduce overcost and energy invested in the fields.
Smart farm is built on the same concept only and it is an active unit that is effectively implementing the benefits of smart agriculture. Here is a list of smart technologies used in smart farms,
- Dynamic Sensors for water and soil that help to control moisture and humidity.
- Improved medical system where advanced tool and software is used to diagnose plants or to treat the diseases of farm animals.
- Offers greater connectivity with cellular networks or LoRa. Therefore, it gets easier to keep an eye on the agricultural grounds even if it is situated in a remote area.
- Assistsin tracking different locations with the help of satellites and GPS.
Smart Farming Cycle
Unlike traditional agricultural methods, data is key to Smart Farming or IoT-based technology. To optimize agricultural methods and production. To ensure more yield, the smart technology is meant to go through a continuous and constant cycle that helps to collect and analyze data. Based on the data, the next set of actions can be taken. There are 4 stages of a smart farming cycle,
- Observation - Advanced sensors are used to collect information about soil, water, temperature, humidity, moisture, and many other factors.
- Diagnostics - The data collected from the sensors are further sent to IoT-based cloud platforms toanalyze them.
- Decisions - After the analysis takes place, farmers and agricultural experts make relevant decisions to generate better and more fruitful outputs.
- Actions - Actions take place when decisions are made and then continue from the beginning.
Agricultural Problems Solved by IoT Solutions
1. Precision in Farming
It is a modern approach where precise values are calculated in order to make maximum yield. It helps to obtain accurate data with precision for the agricultural lands and both plants and animals can get the exact amount of input they require to produce. It reduces operational costs and improves productivity. Similarly, in the case of livestock farming; precision IoT techniques are used to generate accurate data for every individual cattle. It measures and collects data 24 hours a day for every day.
2. Automation in Smart Greenhouses
Smart greenhouses are controlled by sensors and actuators that help to monitor and control temperature, humidity, and other environmental attributes. After the performance analysis for the greenhouse is done spraying activities, light control, and other tasks are handled by smart tech.
3. Agricultural Drones
Other than providing a bird-eye view from the top, agricultural drones are also used to collect insights and real-time data. It sends alerts to the farmers in case there is any suspicious activity.
Evidently, Smart Agriculture is the near future that everyone is looking forward to.
