Digitally transforming

As the world is moving transforming to a digital era, some segments are slower than others, however with the availability of smart devices for almost every purpose, the adoption rate is improving. Farming is on such industry that has seen monumental leaps in technological advancements in the last years and is primed for smart device integration.

This, coupled with the growing population causing a demand for agriculture products, has contributed a large increase in the market for smart farming technologies worldwide. In 2020, the market share for IoT in agriculture reached $5.6 billion.

What is Smart Agriculture?

Smart agriculture refers to the application of IoT solutions in agriculture and farming. So, why is iOT applicable to agriculture? By using IoT connected sensors to gather environmental, plant, soil data and machine metrics, farmers can make more informed decisions on planting and harvesting, thereby improving almost every aspect of their farming operations.

By integrating smart technology with their farming equipment, farmers can not only improve their day to day farming operations, but also improve their year over year patterns. By collecting data on not only their plants, but also on weather patterns as well, farmers can get accurate predictions about what crops will grow the best in the coming years. IoT in Agriculture will allow them to plan out their years better for higher crop yields.

Agricultural IoT Sensors

There are many types of IoT sensors for agriculture as well as IoT applications in agriculture in general:

Monitoring of Climate and Weather

One of the most popular smart agriculture hardware are weather stations that combine multiple smart farming sensors. These weather stations are often located near the farmer fields and collect data which is then relayed to a cloud hosted hub. The measurements that are provided can be then used to map the climate conditions, choose the appropriate crops, and take the required measures to improve their yield (i.e. precision farming).

Greenhouse Automation

Most often, farmers will manually control the environment in their greenhouses. The use of Agriculture IoT sensors and hardware enables farmers to get real-time data on their greenhouse conditions, like the lighting, temperature, soil condition, and humidity. In addition to just collecting data, smart greenhouse sensors and systems can also adjust the climate setting to keep the greenhouse conditions where they are needed. By controlling the parameters they can adjust the ripening of the ir porducts to avoid having a glut in the markets.

Crop Management

Another type of IoT product in agriculture that has proven to be paramount for farmers are smart crop management devices and hardware. Crop management systems are installed around the field and collect data on the crops. The data collected includes temperature, precipitation, rate of growth, early detection of disease and mineral deficiencies, that are vital to crop health.

Livestock Monitoring

Just farmers need to gather information on their crops, they also need to gather data on their livestock in order to properly manage it. Livestock smart devices can help with tracking animals, and also provide updates on the animals’ health and well-being. By using Agricultural IoT devices, farmers can help save money on labour and employees by having their smart devices keep tabs on their livestock, instead of having to rely on employees.