Now, we cannot imagine sowing a plantation manually when there are self-driving machines. Like any other industry, agriculture has gone a long way to automation. It has experienced a series of technological transformations over the last several decades, allowing farmers to have better control over growing crops and livestock production.
Agriculture – illustrative photo. Image credit: Unsplash, free license
Technologies help to make calculations more accurately and efficiently, thus optimizing resources such as water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Smart IoT systems also notify farmers of issues like pest infestation and nutrient deficiency early on, helping to save more crops.
This article unveils what IoT means, its role in agriculture, how agriculture implements the technology, and the challenges this industry meets when introducing IoT. Besides, you can learn more info about IoT services and benefits via this link https://lembergsolutions.com/iot-consulting-services.
What Does IoT Mean?
The Internet of Things or IoT, is a network of systems and physical devices connected over the internet. The devices are equipped with various sensors that ensure the data exchange process in real-time. Of course, there should be a special system that powers the hardware, and its name is Embedded.
Embedded software is a type of software designed to work on IoT devices. Its main task is to manage sensors, collect data, and transmit it to another piece of hardware. The data is not usually processed by the IoT device directly. Data processing happens on edge devices.
What Is the Role of IoT in Agriculture?
The Internet of Things has helped farmers achieve their primary goal – meet a rising food demand through more optimized work. In general, IoT in farming allows food producers to maximize yield by spending minimum resources.
You may wonder how exactly IoT benefits the agricultural sector. The good news is that this technology can be used to leverage any agricultural activity. Check some examples:
- IoT sensors transmit real-time data on soil acidity, nutrient content, temperature affecting crops, and humidity level. Besides, they notify farmers about pest infestation or diseases.
- IoT in agriculture monitors livestock well-being. Farmers use wearable devices to track animals’ health conditions, weight, and other parameters.
- IoT devices also help save energy. By tracking energy consumption, farmers can search for the ways on how to cut it down.
- IoT can also fully automate greenhouse management.
- IoT and agriculture allow manufacturers to connect several farms under one platform for improved management.
Since the agricultural sector is paving its way towards automatization, there’s a great opportunity for farming businesses to adapt IoT technology to their needs. Choosing a reliable IoT software provider is the first step in this exciting journey.
How Does Agriculture Implement the IoT?
After we have already learned about the role of IoT in agriculture, the likely following question is, ‘How does agriculture implement IoT?’
This industry uses various connected devices, sensors, and technologies to gather data in real-time. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
IoT Sensors
IoT sensors are at the core of smart agriculture. They measure metrics such as environmental conditions, disease infection or pest infestation risk, or ripeness level and transfer the data to a farmer’s smartphone or computer. With smart agriculture using IoT, the farmer can adjust the plant’s care routine to reap more yields during the harvesting season.
Robotics
Robotics helps automate repetitive tasks like gathering crops and sorting them. Besides, it assists in weed detection. Robotic systems are also responsible for smart watering, allowing farmers to maintain a regular hydration routine. All these lead to a higher production quantity with a lower need for human involvement.
Remote Sensing
Remote sensing helps farmers monitor the condition of crops with the help of photos taken by the satellite. This is highly valuable for large-scale growers who need to keep an eye on a big territory.
Drones
Drones serve a similar function to remote sensing but provide a more close-up image. Farmers use drones to monitor the condition of crops, detect a ripeness level, and prevent pest or disease spreading.
Computer Imaging
With computer imaging, farmers become closer to predictable manufacturing. Computer imaging allows them to monitor the fields in real time with drones that provide a clear image of the condition of crops. As a result, farmers can calculate an approximate harvesting time and yield amount.
IoT Applications in Agriculture
The adoption of the Internet of Things in agriculture made smart farming possible. Talking about smart farming, we mean utilizing IoT systems designed to track crops with the help of sensors. Farmers use different types of IoT applications in agriculture. Let’s have a closer look.
- Precision farming helps farmers adjust crop growing conditions based on the info transmitted by sensors.
- Equipment management allows large-scale farmers to keep track of machines’ locations.
- Livestock monitoring helps keep an eye on the well-being and health of livestock.
- Storage management assists in adjusting the temperature and humidity needed for a specific product.
Challenges of Implementing IoT in Agriculture
Adopting the Internet of Things for agriculture sounds promising however, this sector faces certain challenges just like any other industry. For example:
- Poor internet connection in farms hinders the proper work of devices.
- High hardware costs make IoT adoption expensive for small-scale farmers.
- Large volumes of data processing make devices more vulnerable to hacker attacks.
Conclusion
The integration of IoT in agriculture has brought the industry to a new level of productivity. With the help of smart farming, manufacturers actively use IoT sensors, robotics, drones, and computer imaging to track crops and livestock. As a result, the farmers can get maximum benefits while spending minimum resources.
Of course, there are certain challenges of adopting the IoT for agriculture. Farms are often located in remote areas, which cannot guarantee a proper internet connection. Besides, not every manufacturer can afford smart IoT devices due to costly hardware.
Despite the challenges, the IoT has allowed many agricultural businesses to expand and achieve outstanding business results.