Modern Farming Methods to transform Agricultural Industry (Smart farming using IoT)
For too many people, the term Internet of Things is still confined to the most popular and visible smart devices like Android Wear, Google Glass or FitBit Smart Bands for Activity Tracking & Health Monitoring.
However, IoT is pervading every industry space and connecting everything for creating a better living environment.
The Agriculture Industry hasn’t been left untapped either. Forward-thinking companies are moving towards smart Farming concepts by leveraging IoT, Big Data and M2M Technology to maximize crop yields and optimize irrigation efficiency.
As the global population is slated to touch the 9.6 billion mark by 2020, there will be a snowballing demand for food which will have to be met to sustain this growing population.
Smart farming based on IoT technologies will enable farmers to Reduce Waste and Enhance Productivity – from improving soil quality to full-fledged irrigation.
Prospering on the immense architecture of the Internet of Things, smart farming using IoT are making their mark with the promise to deliver round the clock visibility in:
- Soil and Crop Health
- Machinery in Use
- Animal Behavior
- Climate Monitoring and
- Storage Conditions
This blog highlights Smart farming using IoT technology that is improving agricultural efficiency.
Below are four modern farming methods
1) Precision Farming
Being one of the most famous applications of IoT in the agricultural sector, precision farming provides more controlled and accurate ways of raising livestock and growing crops.
In Intelligent Farming Methods, rugged and precise IoT sensors are used that allow farmers and growers to collect data on weather, soil humidity, air quality and crop maturity; enabling them to make better decisions.
A company named as Cropx is using sensor devices and data to help farmers better utilize water resources.
Such sensor devices are also capable of optimizing the usage of fertilizer and pesticide needed by each patch at definite intervals of time.
See also: What is Precision agriculture? Precision Agriculture Technology
2) Agricultural Drones
In the current scenario, agriculture drones are highly utilized in the agriculture industry to enhance or improve various farming practices. Mostly ground-based and aerial drones are used for crop health assessment, crop monitoring, crop spraying, planting and land analysis.
The major benefits of employing drones in farming include integrated GIS mapping, health monitoring, imaging, ease of use, saves time and most importantly promises high crop yields.
By enabling farmers to create the best strategy & planning based on real-time data collection and processing, Drone Technology seems to pack a lot of potential and promise in the Agriculture Sector.
3) Livestock Monitoring
Farmers who own large territories can utilize wireless IoT applications to gather useful information like location, well-being, and health of their cattle.
This information allows them to identify sick cattle so that they can be separated from the herd, helping to curb the rapid spreading of diseases.
Also, it significantly cut down the labour costs & time as farmers can locate their animals with the help of IoT based sensor devices.
IoT companies taking the IoT revolution ahead, utilizing cam-based sensors and Smart devices to build Intelligent Fodder & Stock Replenishment Solutions in agriculture space.
See also: How IoT is changing Livestock Monitoring and Farming?
4) Smart Greenhouses
This is yet another important smart farming application that helps in improving the yield of crops.
The Original Greenhouse concept uses controlled environmental parameters created using Manual Monitoring & Interference or Proportional Control Methods; to allow an optimized environment for crop/plant growth.
Smart Greenhouses are an upgrade which use IoT Sensors to intelligently monitor & control the internal climatic conditions; saving manual labour costs, production losses and energy.
One can create Cloud Servers in order to remotely access the system when it is connected using IoT.
Way Ahead to Smart Farming:
We are rapidly stepping into an era of hi-tech agriculture wherein there is a host of opportunities for Technologists to completely transform the Farming Ecosystem.
They can open up extremely productive ways to improve the Quality of Soil, Raise Livestock with the use of affordable sensors and then make well-informed decisions basis data analytics, which in turn would improve operational efficiency.
Thus, with the installation of Smart Technologies, both small farmers and large landowners can increase efficiency and sustainability in their crop productions.
See also: What is AgTech? and how does AgTech benefits in the field of Farming?
Let us know what you think about Modern farming methods i.e Smart farming using IoT applications in the comment section below.
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Would you like to read more post in agriculture Sector?, visit IoT applications in Agriculture category.
I liked it when you shared that it is great to consider implementing precision farming as it can provide more controlled and accurate ways of raising livestock and growing crops. Besides, it allows farmers and growers to collect data on weather, soil humidity, and air quality. I would like to think if a farmer wants to improve his crop production, he should consider getting precision farming from a reliable service.