IoT Agriculture
Internet of Things in agriculture refers to the use of smart devices and sensors to monitor the farming process, from planting to harvesting and distribution. IoT technology for agriculture allows farmers to automate real-time data collection, increase production volumes, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and make wise agricultural decisions1. IoT devices can connect and interact with each other and the internet, and can send alerts or automate other devices, such as sprinklers or tractors.
IoT technology has several applications in agriculture, including field automation of crop and animal production and automation of agriculture and food supply chain. Such applications offer farmers with data-enabled and practical means for interactively managing their production in a more effective and efficient way.
IoT devices can be used to monitor crops, survey and map fields, and provide data to farmers for rational farm management plans to save both time and money. For instance, IoT devices can be used to monitor soil moisture, temperature, and nutrient levels, and provide real-time data to farmers, enabling them to make informed decisions about irrigation, fertilization, and other farming practices.
IoT technology can also be used to monitor the health and well-being of livestock, and to track the location and movement of animals. This can help farmers to identify and treat sick animals more quickly, and to prevent the spread of diseases.
Overall, IoT technology has the potential to revolutionize the agriculture industry by enabling farmers to make data-driven decisions, optimize their production processes, and improve the quality and quantity of their yields1.
Agriculture & the Internet of Things
Internet of Things (loT) or internet-enabled communications was simply explained by Jacob Morgan who stated that broadband Internet is widely available, and more devices come with Wi-Fi capabilities and sensors with them. The devices create a ‘storm’ around a common Wi-Fi.
In agriculture loT applications include farm vehicle tracking, livestock monitoring, storage monitoring and other farm operations. The diagram on the right provides a visual of this application.
In this loT model, sensors can be deployed in the farm – to the ground, in water, in vehicles etc. to collect data. The collected data is stored in the cloud system or server and accessed by the farmer via the internet or their mobile phones.
In some cases, the farmer can remotely control the activities in the farm due to this connectivity. Is this possible? Yes, remember one of the e-Agriculture webinars on Nano Ganesh explained the mobile-based remote controller for water pumps. Also, we covered the use of loT by the Hello Tractor, where they developed a low-cost monitoring device which is placed on a tractor and allows them to be on call like an uber taxi and in this way farmers can share resources and fully utilize tractors.
loT has been applied in agriculture in general, in arable farming, in fisheries and aquaculture, in animal food consumption, in agri-food supply chain, in green house horticulture and livestock farming.

Benefits

- Saves cost by effectively using inputs
- Better monitoring of crops and avoiding crop losses through disease or adverse weather
- Help in optimizing water use Better planning of farm activities


















Challenges
Smart agriculture system using IoT and big data technology could be the savior for the whole industry. But integrating technology in traditional agricultural processes has not been without its own problems.
Connectivity
You need to provide connectivity throughout the agricultural environment—fields, storehouses, barns, greenhouses, etc. to make an IoT system work. And this is a lot of space to work with. Ideally, it should also be a reliable uninterrupted connection which could withstand severe weather events and open space conditions.
Unfortunately, the connectivity still poses a problem in the Internet of Things in general, as diverse systems use different protocols and data transmission methods. Hopefully, attempts to regulate this area, introduce standards as well as the development of 5G technology and the space-based Internet can soon solve this problem and provide fast and reliable Internet connection for every space regardless of its size and conditions.
Design and durability
Any IoT system used in agriculture should be able to handle not only connectivity, but the conditions of outdoor spaces. Drones, portable sensors, IoT in smart grid and weather monitoring stations should have an uncomplicated yet functional design and a certain level of robustness to “work in the farm.” Not to mention the complexity and peculiarity of designing an IoT product in general.
Limited resources and time
The role of IoT in agriculture is very important, though the integration of smart technology in this area takes place in the context of a constantly changing environment and lack of time. The companies who design and develop IoT for agriculture have to take into consideration rapid climate change and emerging weather extremes, work with limited land availability and unfavorable factors like dying pollinators.


IoT in Agriculture
Applications
There are numerous examples that show how to use IoT in agriculture from versatile data analytics and management systems to futuristic robot pollinators. This singled out several IoT applications in agriculture across vehicles, ag spaces and operations and name a few exciting projects in each category.















Sensors

Gyroscope and image
Gyroscope and image sensors are widely used in robots, autonomous vehicles and drones for field health monitoring, geomapping and land analytics, autonomous irrigation and crop fertilization.
Moisture and temperature
Another example is a set of moisture sensors by Cropx. These sensors provide automated moisture, temperature and EC monitoring and enable efficient and wasteless irrigation. This is also a good example of how using IoT in agriculture can reduce water consumption.
Near infrared and EC
One more Red Dot awardee, SoilCares is a good example of how IoT can be used in agriculture at a small scale. This portable soil scanner uses near-infrared and EC sensing for real-time soil diagnostics and recommendations on ground fertilizing and treatment. IoT agriculture sensors used by the scanner send information to the data processing center, which sends the insights right to the farmer’s phone.


