Benefits And Applications Of IoT In Agriculture

According to the UN, the world's population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050, resulting in a 69% increase in global agricultural production between 2010 and 2050. As a result of such demand, farmers and agricultural firms are turning to IoT for analytics and increased production capacities.

 

We are witnessing unprecedented levels of technology adoption in agriculture. Many upcoming agricultural technologies appear to be very promising for the future of farming. IoT was originally considered an emergent agritechnology, but it has now entered the mainstream due to widespread usage. By its most basic description, IoT in agriculture is simply the Internet controlling things.

 

What does IoT Mean?

 

IoT has emerged as one of the most important technologies of the twenty-first century in recent years. Now that we can connect common objects to the internet via embedded devices, including as kitchen appliances, vehicles, thermostats, and baby monitors, seamless communication between people, processes, and things is conceivable.

 

Physical things can share and collect data with minimal human interaction thanks to low-cost computers, the cloud, big data, analytics, and mobile technologies. Digital systems can record, monitor, and alter each interaction between connected entities in this hyperconnected environment. The physical world meets the digital world—and they cooperate.

 

IoT connects the digital and physical worlds through a range of technologies. Sensors, which may monitor things like temperature or motion, or basically any change in the environment, are embedded in physical objects, as are actuators, which receive signals from sensors and then do something in reaction to those changes. Sensors and actuators interface with computing systems that can monitor or manage the health and actions of linked objects and machines via wired (for example, Ethernet) or wireless (for example, WiFi, cellular) networks. 

 

Physical items being monitored do not have to be made; they might be natural objects as well as people and animals. While some organizations may have a broader definition of IoT, our definition excludes systems in which all of the embedded sensors are used solely to receive intentional human input, such as smartphone apps that receive data input primarily through a touchscreen, or other networked computer software in which the sensors consist of a standard keyboard and mouse. 

 

The constant connectivity enabled by IoT, when paired with data and analytics, opens up new options for businesses to create products and services while also increasing operational efficiency. Indeed, since the 2010s, IoT has emerged as one of the most significant developments in the digital transformation of business and the economy.

 

Also Read | 7 applications of IoT in agriculture

 

IoT in Agriculture:

 

IoT smart agriculture solutions are intended to assist in crop field monitoring by using sensors and automating irrigation systems. As a result, farmers and affiliated businesses can readily monitor field conditions from any location.

 

Examine the various applications of IoT in agriculture using various IoT solutions:

 

1. Agriculture and Robotics: 

 

Since the industrial revolution in the 1800s, automation has improved to perform increasingly complex tasks and enhance output. With rising labor needs and a global labor crisis, agriculture robots, also known as Agribots, are gaining popularity among farmers. 

 

Crop production fell by an estimated 213 crores ($3.1 billion) every year owing to labor constraints in the United States alone. Ag Robots have gained prominence as a result of recent breakthroughs in sensor and AI technology that allows machines to train on their environment. We are still in the early stages of an ag-robotics revolution, utilizing the full potential of the Internet of Things in agriculture, with most products still in the trial and development stages.

 

2. Sensors for agriculture: 

 

Farmers nowadays use sensors, smartphones, and drones to conduct in-depth analyses of the topography and resources in the intended location. Smart farming sensors placed across the field capture and communicate data about various environmental elements to the cloud. This provides precise information about soil quality, temperature, and other aspects.

 

3. Agricultural Drones: 

 

Drones are used in agriculture to improve and optimize a variety of farming activities such as crop monitoring, crop spraying, soil analysis, and mapping. Indeed, agriculture is one of the primary industries incorporating drones. Drones with sensors and cameras are used to photograph, map, and survey farms. There are both ground-based and airborne drones. 

 

Ground drones are mobile bots that survey fields. Aerial drones are flying robots that are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Drones can be operated remotely or autonomously via software-controlled flight plans in their embedded systems, which work in tandem with sensors and GPS. Drone data can provide information about crop health, irrigation, spraying, planting, and soil.

 

4. Intelligent Greenhouses: 

They have the ability to autonomously modify parameters like temperature, humidity, watering, and lighting. This may be done remotely utilizing IoT and connected devices, resulting in a hassle-free, predator-free, crop-friendly environment.

 

5. Agriculture Computer Imaging: 

 

Computer imaging is the employment of sensor cameras located across the farm or drones outfitted with cameras to produce photos for digital image processing. The fundamental principle of digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to process an input image. 

 

Image processing examines photographs in various spectrum intensities, such as infrared, analyzes images gathered over time, and discovers anomalies, assessing limiting variables and assisting in improved farm management.

 

6. Crop management entails:

 

Crop rotation, management, and monitoring can be aided by data on crop growth, anomalies, crop health, precipitation levels, humidity, and climatic conditions. Crop management technologies can shift the game for farmers, making their decisions more profitable.

 

Also Read | How is IoT Transforming the Data Centers

 

Benefits of IoT in Agriculture

 

The implementation of the Internet of Things in agriculture, like in other industries, promises hitherto unattainable efficiency, resource and expense reduction, automation, and data-driven processes. However, in agriculture, these benefits do not serve as upgrades, but rather as remedies for the entire industry, which is confronted with a variety of harmful difficulties.

 

1. Outstanding efficiency:

 

Today's agriculture is a race. Farmers must produce more product in the face of failing soil, decreasing land availability, and increased weather volatility. Farmers can monitor their product and conditions in real time thanks to IoT-enabled agriculture. They gain insights quickly, can identify challenges before they occur, and make informed judgments on how to avoid them. In addition, IoT solutions in agriculture introduce automation, such as demand-based irrigation, fertilization, and robot harvesting.

 

2. Expansion:

 

70% of the world's population will live in cities by the time we reach 9 billion. IoT-based greenhouses and hydroponic systems allow for a shorter food supply chain and should be able to feed these people fresh fruits and vegetables. Smart closed-cycle agricultural systems enable food to be grown virtually anywhere—in supermarkets, on the walls and rooftops of buildings, in shipping containers, and, of course, in the comfort of everyone's home.

 

3. Cleaner procedure:

 

Smart farming using IoT is a real approach to cut pesticide and fertilizer use. Precision farming not only saves farmers water and energy while also making farming more environmentally friendly, but it also drastically reduces pesticide and fertilizer consumption. When compared to typical farming processes, this strategy yields a cleaner and more organic final product.

 

4. Agility:

 

The enhanced agility of operations is one of the advantages of employing IoT in agriculture. Farmers can swiftly respond to any significant change in weather, humidity, air quality, or the health of each crop or soil in the field thanks to real-time monitoring and forecast systems. New capabilities assist agriculture professionals in saving crops during extreme weather fluctuations.

 

5. Improved product quality:

 

Data-driven agriculture aids in the production of more and better products. Farmers can better grasp the detailed relationships between weather and crop quality by using soil and crop sensors, aerial drone surveillance, and farm mapping. They can replicate the optimal circumstances and boost the nutritional worth of the items by using connected systems.

 

6. Conservation of Water:

Using weather predictions and soil moisture sensors, water is only used when and where it is needed. No matter how well you believe you know your surroundings, Mother Nature is difficult to defeat. What if the weatherman is incorrect? What if it doesn't rain when you really need it?

 

What if you water when it isn't necessary? The answer is simple: you can use a rain gauge to measure the amount of rain that falls on your garden and use that information to determine when and how much to water. A rain gauge monitors rainfall by weighing water drops that fall onto a specific collector. Some gauges function in tandem with a soil moisture sensor, which is a device that detects moisture in the soil.

 

7. Reduced Operating Costs:

 

When fungicides are used in excess, they are wasted. Using an automated system that measures fungicide concentration in the soil at regular intervals during the growing season, growers may modify their applications based on real-time data. Process automation can drastically reduce the amount of resources consumed, human errors, and overall cost.

 

To Summarize

 

Every object that can be controlled via the Internet is considered an oT device. Wearable IoWT (Internet of Wearable Things) gadgets such as smartwatches and home management systems such as Google Home have become commonplace in consumer markets. Over 30 billion devices are expected to be connected to the Internet of Things by 2030.

 

The Internet of Things applications in agriculture are aimed at conventional farming operations in order to fulfill rising demand and reduce production losses. Robots, drones, remote sensors, and computer imaging, combined with constantly improving machine learning and analytical tools, are used in agriculture to monitor crops, survey and map fields, and provide data to farmers for rational farm management plans, saving both time and money.

 

We are witnessing unprecedented levels of technology adoption in agriculture. Many upcoming agricultural technologies appear to be very promising for the future of farming. IoT was originally considered an emergent agritechnology, but it has now entered the mainstream due to widespread usage. By its most basic description, IoT in agriculture is simply the Internet controlling things.

 

One of the reasons why the internet of things will drive adoption in commercial and local farming is smart agriculture. The farmer can use data collected from a wide range of sensors that monitor essential farm operations and conditions to make better decisions to increase crop health and productivity. Adoption of IoT technologies in agriculture will expand, resulting in increased productivity and quality.