In most parts of the world, agriculture is the primary source of livelihood and the backbone of the countries. Rapid climate change, water scarcity, outdated agricultural practices, and overuse of chemical fertilization have led to low production and decreasing capital gain for farmers.
However, things have enormously changed thanks to technological advancements. Farmers can fight off all adversities and boost their capital gain with IoT in agriculture. It’s safe to say that smart farming techniques have brought a much-needed revolution in the agriculture industry. Numerous brands have taken the initiative to launch their farming apps using reliable IoT app development services.
In this article, we’ll discuss how farming in IoT helps mitigate food shortages, prevent crop failures, and provide required information through IoT sensors. You will also learn about industrial IoT applications in agriculture. How are agricultural brands innovating new farming techniques?
The Internet of Things in agriculture encapsulates a sophisticated network of smart devices that enhances agricultural practices. These IoT devices utilize AI, blockchain, cloud computing, and other technologies to monitor and optimize numerous farming operations.
IoT devices in the agriculture sector can:
Farmers implement IoT technology in the agriculture sector using software and hardware components. Being an agricultural brand, you can hire an IoT app development company to develop an innovative agriculture app and connect it with IoT-based hardware devices.
Moreover, you must know about the hardware setup you will install on your agriculture farm. It includes:
Smart sensors:
These IoT-based devices collect data, such as moisture, nutrients, temperature, early signs of diseases, etc., from the physical environment.
Cloud computing:
It helps store, process, and analyze the data that sensors have collected.
AI and Data Analytics:
Artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics help farmers analyze input and make informed decisions.
Robotics:
Automated systems, like drones and machinery, help farmers conduct all manual tasks, even in rough weather at odd hours.
Wireless network:
The 24×7 wireless network helps farmers get real-time updates on their crop health, monitor inventory, supervise distribution, and more.
The Internet of Things in agriculture provides numerous advantages to farmers. It allows farmers to use ample amounts of resources at the right time. So they can configure problems when they arise or prevent them from happening. We will now look at the most common benefits of the Internet of Things in agriculture.
Farmers can improve production processes, control diseases, and take necessary actions in time by utilizing information analyzed by IoT devices. The high quality of crops helps them sell fast in the market and increase farmers’ income.
Remote crop and livestock monitoring enables farmers to create new opportunities to eliminate risks, increase crop yields, and maximize livestock output. They can make better decisions and respond to sudden fluctuations in weather, temperature, humidity, etc.
IoT devices used in smart farming equip farmers with real-time resource analysis. They can use the analyzed data to protect their crop and seeds. The real-time analysis also helps utilize livestock waste, fertilizers, seeds, etc. in a better way.
IoT devices play a vital role in agriculture by preventing crop diseases, tracking crop health for high yields, promoting sustainable farming practices, and more. These advanced farming practices help farmers save money on crop production, management, and distribution.
IoT in agriculture can help fulfill the demand for high-quality food for the increasing global population. Farmers can optimize fertilizers, seeds, chemicals, etc., usage and ensure effective use of water, fuel, and electricity. It will encourage healthy crop production and accurate waste management.
Farmers can mitigate labor requirements and avoid untrained professionals. The new technology enables them to analyze customer demand, resolve any possible issue efficiently, and control yield production based on collected data.
We will now discuss the real-world applications where IoT has transformed farming with real-time data, automated processes, and resource optimization.
Read more to learn how digitalization can boost your farming business. |
We have listed the most popular real-life use cases for smart farming that deliver desired results better than traditional methods.
It is one of the most transformative IoT trends in agriculture, capturing significant attention worldwide. The intelligent farming technique uses smart sensors, GPS, field mapping, and other tools. It results in:
Smart greenhouses ensure farmers get control over plantations, fertilization, and irrigation. IoT devices with smart sensors allow farmers to:
So, plants can grow tremendously and disease-free in a controlled environment.
IoT with blockchain technology enhances supply chain management for farmers. They can:
Having livestock healthy and content has become easier thanks to new tech innovations. Now, farmers can leverage IoT devices to:
Robotics in farming has helped farmers improve productivity. Autonomous drones, tractors, and harvesters are new sensations in the farming industry. They assist in:
What if you could watch over your crop field from wherever you are at any time?
It’s possible with IoT-based systems. Farmers and growers don’t require to go out on harsh sunny days or in heavy rain to examine their crops. Using IoT devices, they can:
IoT revolutionizes traditional farming via innovative industrial IoT applications. With the integration of blockchain, AI, ML, cloud computing, and other technologies, we will see more advanced use cases for smart farming in the future.
With each new technological advancement, new challenges arise. Here, look at some of the most noticeable challenges where new developments are required.
Smart farming deals with sensitive data regularly. They require to analyze this and keep the information for future inspection. Therefore, companies make sure to block unauthorized access or take steps to keep devices safe from hackers. Some farmers are not tech-savvy, making a significant issue regarding operating IoT devices.
Even if farmers bear the high initial cost and implement the IoT in agricultural lands, it will still create challenges in the future. Farmers will need to accommodate future demands as the changes occur and demand increases. It will require them to purchase additional devices, upgrade existing ones, and integrate evolving technologies.
Installing IoT devices like drones, sensors, machinery, and other automated equipment can be expensive for small-scale farmers. In addition, integrating new technologies into existing systems is another challenge farmers face. Streamlining farm operations and data management without seamless interoperability and integration is challenging, and that too, at an affordable rate.
Many rural and remote areas face significant network issues, limiting the growth of smart farming. The lack of a stable connection prevents proper data storage and analysis processes, rendering the infrastructure useless and limiting the adoption possibilities of smart agriculture.
Despite ongoing challenges, top agritech companies are working towards providing sustainable solutions. Let’s see how they are revolutionizing the agriculture sector using IoT.
Look at the companies providing IoT-based solutions and bringing revolutionized changes in agriculture.
This agriculture manufacturing company brings pioneering changes by implementing AI and IoT in manufacturing farm machines. Their new era of products leverages farmers to conduct remote monitoring, remote diagnosis, and predictive maintenance—bringing automation and sustainability to life.
John Deere’s manure sensing system is the perfect example of automation. Farmers can detect soil health, fertilizer requirement, nitrate concentration in soil, extract data from previous crops, and more to yield healthier crops. It enables farmers to save costs and maximize efficiency.
Trimble provides the opportunity to streamline workflow with seamless connectivity and accuracy using modern farming technology. The company offers hardware, software, and agricultural services and promotes sustainable growth.
Recently, the AGCO-Trimble joint venture has come forward to accelerate smart farming development. Trimble is making significant investments in areas like GPS-based guidance & steering, water management, positioning, flow control, and other precision agriculture segments.
Heliospectra is known for its smart lighting solutions for indoor farming and greenhouse cultivation. The company offers helioCARE services that provide farmers with energy-saving and customized light planning, sensor installations, food and cultivation training, etc.
The new Spectrum Design Tool and Dynamic Zoning enable growers to optimize crop growth to gain high-quality yield and achieve operational efficiency. New MITRA multi-channel systems seamlessly integrate with Heliospectra’s HelioCORE software, enhancing light management for greenhouses and indoor farming.
SpaceCrop is a new-age agricultural solution provider. It helps farmers adapt to climate change and increase food security with advanced farming solutions. Their smart farming services include smart irrigation, advanced farm management, and weather forecasting systems.
The company leverages satellite data and artificial intelligence to make data-driven decisions and optimize resources for high yield and profitability. Recently, they partnered with the Davao Region Cacao Industry Development Council to implement a satellite monitoring system for 10 cacao farms in the Davao region.
Midbar introduced an innovative approach to indoor farming requiring less water and utilizing aeroponics to grow crops faster. They use technologies like precision-controlled aeroponics, nozzle-less mist circulation, nano-climate control, and more.
The company claims to build the world’s first inflatable farm, AirFarm. It allows people to cultivate indoor farming and eliminates the need for building strong steel structures. They have taken farming to the next level by investing in projects such as polar research and space agriculture, crop diversification, etc.
Several agricultural companies are investing in the Internet of Things in manufacturing. The research and development in IoT technology has reached a new level.
Even though the initial cost of implementing an IoT-based agriculture system is high, the overall hardware and software cost fluctuates. It differs for small-scale farmers and large-scale farmers.
The most common IoT tools employed in smart farming include sensors, drones, automated machinery, RFID tags, cameras, smart irrigation systems, a wireless network connection, smart fertilization systems, etc. In addition, some agricultural operations may require an advanced hardware system compared to normal crops, increasing expenses.
These days, numerous technological innovations are taking place in the value chain of the agricultural IoT market, with a focus on new technology integration and data management.
Data analysis and automated vehicle development occur as the advancements in industrial IoT applications mature. Global agricultural brands are taking innovations in robotics and artificial intelligence to a new height.
Being an agriculture tech enthusiast, you can easily develop your agriculture app. You can either build your in-house team or outsource your farming project. For outsourcing your project, hire a custom mobile app development company providing IoT app development services. The IoT in agriculture opens more opportunities and showcases a bright future.
Now is the ideal moment to develop a cutting-edge AgriTech app and bring your IoT business ideas to life.
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Factors you must consider before developing your smart farming app:
Precision agriculture focuses on effective crop management using customized inventions and technological solutions. On the other hand, intelligent farming emphasizes IoT, data analysis, cloud computing, and other digital solutions to enhance farm efficiency.
Climate-smart agriculture is a technique in which farmers develop technological, strategic, and investment conditions to attain sustainable smart crops for food security under volatile climate conditions.
In simple words, smart livestock farming means farmers monitor the health of their animals, behavior, body temperature, and daily nutrient intake using technology. It allows them to identify weak and poor animals from the healthy ones and take necessary actions.
Smart harvesting is a technically advanced solution for farmers that saves their time, reduces labor costs, and improves overall farm efficiency and productivity. Farmers use technologically advanced solutions, like autonomous tractors, to harvest their crops.
Vipin Jain is the Co-Founder and CEO at Konstant Infosolutions and is in charge of marketing, project management, administration and R&D at the company. With his marketing background, Vipin Jain has developed and honed the company’s vision, corporate structure & initiatives and its goals, and brought the company into the current era of success.
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